NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE
Raise the minimum wage to £6.10, says TUC
The TUC has called on the Low Pay Commission to increase the national minimum wage from £5.73 to more than £6.10 an hour from October 2009, the tenth anniversary of its introduction.
%ADVERT%
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: “The minimum wage has never had any detrimental effect on the UK economy. In the current downturn there is a danger that the Low Pay Commission might be too cautious in setting the new NMW rate. Everyone agrees that setting it at too high a rate would cost jobs, but people rarely consider the same is true of too low a rate.”
He added: “A low minimum wage would not only leave low paid workers - predominantly women - in poverty unnecessarily but would also leave them with less money to spend. This would leave consumer spending around £250 million below where it should be. Timing is also important. The LPC is currently considering the rate for the minimum wage to apply from 1 October 2009 and the Bank of England is predicting that the UK economy should be past the worst of the recession by next autumn.”
Want to know more?
The full TUC submission to the Low pay Commission is available at www.tuc.org.uk/extras/lowpay.pdf.
With member unions representing over 6.5 million working people, the TUC campaigns for a fair deal at work and for social justice at home and abroad. To find out more visit www.tuc.org.uk.