Campaigners praise ‘solid achievement’ of minimum wage

01.05.09

The minimum wage is a “solid achievement”, but it’s still too low and discriminates on the basis of age, trade unionists and poverty campaigners warn today.

On the day that the Low Pay Commission reports its latest recommendations for increasing the national minimum wage rate, a letter in today’s Guardian says that its introduction 10 years ago “was a major victory for the labour movement and anti-poverty campaigners, but much more importantly, it meant that, for the very first time, the lowest-paid were entitled to legally guaranteed minimum pay.”

Signed by UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis and other leading figures in the national minimum wage campaign, the letter notes that: “Today, more than a million workers each year benefit from the minimum wage, over two-thirds of them women. That is a solid achievement, making a real contribution to the incomes of our lowest-paid workers.

“And yet the minimum wage is still too low. It also discriminates against people on the grounds of age; leaves many apprentices outside its protection; and, though the government is making substantial progress in this area, needs to be better enforced and better promoted to the public.”

As well as the 10th anniversary of the minimum wage, this year also marks 10 years since the government’s pledge to eradicate child poverty.

The letter writers say that, again, this “is an area where the government has made substantial progress but where more needs to be done.

“It is now time for the government to address the linkage between low pay and child poverty, and to move to end the situation where benefits act as a subsidy to profits.

“We believe they could make a good start by being bold and putting more spending power in the hands of the low-paid through a significant increase in the minimum wage.”

The national minimum wage campaign brings together unions, community groups and campaign organisations to defend, improve and extend the minimum wage.

Noting that the UK Parliament will debate a Conservative motion on 15 May which would allow employers to opt out of the minimum wage, UNISON young members’ officer Gary Williams called for supporters to lobby their MPs to sign Early Day Motion 1163.

“This motions calls for calls a celebration and defence of - and improvements in - the national minimum wage,” said Mr Williams.

“Already 112 MPs have signed it, be we need to do more to get the message across.”