Wage Concern

I have received the following:

On Friday 15th May the Employment Opportunities Bill will be debated in Parliament, put forward by Conservative backbenchers.

It would allow employers to 'opt-out' of the Minimum Wage brought in by the Labour government ten years ago.

If passed, the system would be wide open to abuse by unscrupulous employers. For instance, an employment agency could write a Minimum Wage Opt-Out into any contract potential staff would have to sign.

Unbelievably, they tried to claim it was against people's 'Human Right to work' to have a Minimum Wage.

This from a party that wants to scrap the Human Rights Act!

Let's show the Tories we don't support their ridiculous, dangerous and immoral position by:

1. Signing our petition here

2. Joining our campaign here

3. Get your friends to join this Facebook group and join the campaign

The Labour Government introduced the National Minimum Wage in 1999 to ensure decent wages for the low paid and to create a level playing field for employers - so that better employers would not be undercut by the worst.

Following the last Conservative Government’s abolition of the Wages Councils in 1993 there had been no legal protection for wages and in some areas low skilled jobs were routinely paid at less than £2 an hour. One Leicester shop worker with special needs was paid 28 pence per hour. Disgracefully, the Tories think this should be legal again.

The introduction of the National Minimum Wage in 1999 at a rate of £3.60 gave over 2 million workers an immediate pay rise.

Millions more have since benefited every year as the rate has increased by almost 60% over 10 years to £5.73 an hour today.

When the Minimum Wage was brought in, then leader and now Shadow Foreign Secretary and de facto Deputy Leader William Hague called it 'the height of reckless irresponsibility'.

The fact they'd support this Bill in the middle of a recession shows that no matter how hard Cameron pretends, he cannot change the DNA of his own party.

Tory MPs supporting the Bill, due for its second reading on May 15th are:

Mr. Christopher Chope, Mr. Peter Bone, Philip Davies, Mr. Nigel Evans, Mr. Greg Knight, Mr. Edward Leigh, Mr. Ian Liddell-Grainger, Mr. Brian Binley, Mr. William Cash, Mr. Robert Syms and Mr. David Wilshire.

alex.ross64@gmail.com