This Is Living Wage Week

Jeremy Corbyn posts on Facebook:

This week is Living Wage Week – the real Living Wage which is based on the actual cost of living, as opposed to the Government's re-branded minimum wage, now called the national living wage for those aged 25 and over.

Yesterday, I was delighted to meet cleaning operatives in my constituency today to hear about how the Living Wage affects them.

They work for SOS, one of the nearly 3,000 accredited Living Wage employers, which have voluntarily undertaken to pay their staff higher than the legal minimum.

This benefits employers as well as employees, with better pay and working conditions bringing improvements in staff performance, productivity and motivation.

However, in-work poverty is unacceptably high.

Too many people are struggling to make ends meet due to poverty pay, with two thirds of children living in poverty in households where at least one adult is in work. 

The next Labour Government will end this injustice by introducing a £10 an hour minimum wage, as outlined by our Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell at Labour Conference this year.

This Living Wage Week, we should celebrate the improvements that the Living Wage campaign has brought to so many working people, while also reaffirming our commitment to ensure that all workers receive a fair deal, in particular lower earners, so that no one and no community is left behind.

And John McDonnell adds:

This week is Living Wage Week.

One of the greatest achievements of the Government elected in 1997 was the establishment of a national minimum wage, lifting millions out of poverty.

The Tories opposed it at the time, claiming it would cost millions of jobs, but - united in purpose – we won the argument.

Under the next Labour government, we will write a real Living Wage into law so that everyone can earn enough to live on.