Swansea Council wants to see a "Welsh Living Wage"
CALLS have been made for Swansea Council workers to receive the Living Wage for years to come.
The promise is set to come into orce in April and will see around 3,000 low-paid employees receive a salary increase.
Currently, the Living Wage is £7.45 an hour, resulting in the lowest starting salary at the local authority being £14,333. The minimum wage, set by the UK Government, is £6.19.
Swansea Council's opposition memb- ers have called for the authority to continue matching the Living Wage in the future.
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The call foll- owed a question put to the council's cabinet member for citizen, community engagement and democracy, Christine Richards, by several opposition councillors.
In a written response she said: "it would be imprudent to tie the council into future increases of the Living Wage and therefore this will be reviewed annually in November when the Living Wage is set by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation".
Rob Stewart, cabinet member for finance, who said it was "a bit rich coming from the opposition that did nothing on the issue when they were in power'', added: "We will look to see how we can maintain a Living Wage mechanism for Wales, eventually establishing a Welsh Living Wage, not as a one-year supplement.
"What we do in future years will need to be affordable.
''We intend to tackle poverty and we are looking at a mechanism to continue it," he told a full meeting of Swansea Council.
The opposition councillors, Peter Black, Chris Holley, Mary Jones, Paul Meara and John Newbury, also questioned how the proposal to introduce a Living Wage would affect tax and benefits.
In her response Mrs Richards said: "Of course an increase in pay can have an impact on eligibility for benefits and tax credits, but maybe not such as detrimental impact as the current welfare reforms being introduced by the Conservative/Lib Dem coalition.
"In the UK 5 million people, including 3 million women, are paid below the Living Wage and one in eight household contain at least one adult earning below that level. Introducing a Living Wage can really 'make work pay.
"As one of the largest employers in Swansea, this Labour administration feels a moral obligation to its employees an is doing its best to find a practical way to help working families.
"There is a also a hope that this can boost our struggling economy by giving people more money in their pockets to spend on goods and services."
The council said it hoped to implement the wage in April this, but it could be delayed due to ongoing negotiations over its single pay structure.
5 Comments
by Zoomer
Friday, January 25 2013, 4:39PM
“Neathboy234
I think you have missed the point. The " Living Wage" is a scheme whereby those on the current minimum wage have a wage INCREASE up to the " Living Wage" of £7.45 per hour.
I have read nothing in the Press about employers' REDUCING their employees' wages downwards ( if they are currently paid more than £7.45 per hour) down to the " Living Wage".
Where have you read that ?”
by Neathboy234
Friday, January 25 2013, 3:12PM
“Zoomer i'm sure many companies are more than happy to pay the living wage, and have us taxpayers pick up the bill in the form of tax credits for their poorly paid staff. They are laughing all the way to the bank, and probably laughing even more with people like yourself backing them up all the way!”
by callandh
Friday, January 25 2013, 1:52PM
“Will people who dont even have jobs get the living wage?”
by Zoomer
Friday, January 25 2013, 12:44PM
“It's all very well for the Council to jump on the Living Wage bandwagon, but who pays the extra money ? Why, taxpayers of course.
I'm sure we could all do with a pay rise, but any increase will have to be met by the taxpayers.
What if say, Tesco, announced it was going to pay its staff a Living Wage. Tesco would have to either reduce its profit margins ( unlikely ) or raise prices ( most probable). If as a customer you don't like that, no problem, you can shop elsewhere. However, there are no real alternative suppliers for Council Services, so you're stuck with the Council.
There are loads of private sector companies out there who are struggling to keep in business, and have asked their staff to take wage freezes, or even wage cuts, to remain in business as opposed to making staff redundant. Do you think it's fair that public sector workers, some of whom have had wage freezes, should now be immune from the ups and downs of economic life, and in some cases receive a 20% hourly wage increase ?”
by Neathboy234
Friday, January 25 2013, 10:12AM
“It's quite interesting that if the living wage were introduced nationally then it would actually reduce government expenditure. The reason for this being is that as taxpayers we subsidize bad employers. I don't think the Tories will make it a priority at Westminster, it goes against everything that the stand for.”