Labour’s three prospective parliamentary candidates and council group leader have joined forces in a pledge to make Brighton and Hove a Living Wage city.
WHILST WELCOMING this week’s increase in the UK living wage level to £7.85, Peter Kyle (PPC Hove and Portslade), Warren Morgan (Labour and Cooperative Group Leader), Nancy Platts (PPC Kemptown) and Purna Sen (PPC Pavilion) say that more joined up action is needed to ensure extensive coverage in Brighton and Hove.
All four politicians say that despite the welcome increase in new employers seeking living wage accreditation, low pay remains a growing problem in the city.
Research released last week shows that there are now a record 5.2 million people in the UK who are officially categorised as low paid – earning below 2/3 of the median.That translates into roughly one in five local people on low pay, with women and young people the worst affected.
Labour say this is a stark reminder that the economic ‘recovery’ is for the few – not the many and they say it helps explain the shocking increase in the number of children in Brighton & Hove living in poverty, as highlighted recently by the End Child Poverty Campaign.
If there is political change next May the PPCs and group leader commit to three measures to significantly increase the coverage of the Living Wage in the city.
• First, a Labour government will introduce tax rebates for those companies that sign up to become living wage employers in the first year of the next Parliament. This will be paid for from the actual exchequer savings from higher tax receipts and lower social security payments.
• Secondly, at a local level the council will do everything it can to join the growing number of Labour authorities that are spreading the Living Wage through the way in which they buy in council services. This will be a key element of the work of a Labour council’s Fairness Commission and integral to plans for more apprenticeships.
• Thirdly, the Labour party here in the city will campaign alongside like minded organisations such as Brighton Chambers of Commerce to ensure that employers in the city that do pay the living wage are celebrated and those that aren’t are encouraged to sign up.
For more information on how the rate is set, click here:
You must be logged in to post a comment.