The Government’s so-called ‘National Living Wage’ is currently £10.42 for over 23s, with lower National Minimum Wage rates for younger workers. Usdaw has been campaigning for a £12 per hour rate as a step towards £15.
Paddy Lillis – Usdaw General Secretary says: “The new real Living Wage rates, which are based on an individual’s cost of living, are welcome and clearly show that the Government’s so-called ‘National Living Wage’ is nothing of the sort. We are particularly pleased that the £12 goal that Usdaw has been campaigning for has now been reached by the Living Wage Foundation. We continue our efforts to persuade the Government and more employers to adopt £12.
“Ministers recently hinted that the statutory rate will exceed £11 in April, but today’s announcement shows that is simply not enough. It is now long overdue that the Government allows the Low Pay Commission to take cost of living into account and creates a legally binding genuine living wage for all workers. Alongside this, we need a new deal for workers to tackle insecure employment.
“As recognised by the Living Wage Foundation’s ‘Living Hours’ campaign, improving hourly pay alone is not enough. We need to look at security of employment, availability of hours and guaranteed contracts, to ensure workers have a weekly income that they can live on.
“At the heart of the cost of living emergency is a crisis of employment rights that leaves workers particularly vulnerable to such economic headwinds. Only Labour is pledged to deliver within 100 days of coming into government the new deal Usdaw has long campaigned for. Labour has the policies and ideas that can put the country back on track and deliver the change our members desperately need.”
The next Labour Government will deliver a new deal that includes:
- Making work pay with a genuine living wage that people can actually live on.
- Banning zero-hours contracts.
- Ending fire and rehire.
- Giving workers basic rights from day one.
- Going further and faster in closing the gender pay gap.
- Making work more family friendly.
- Tackling sexual harassment.
- Ensuring that unions can stand up for their members.
- Boosting collective bargaining, to improve workers’ pay, terms and conditions.
Notes for editors:
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fifth biggest trade union with over 350,000 members. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemical industry and other trades
www.usdaw.org.uk
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