Steven Purcell launches Living Wage for Glasgow
The Leader of Glasgow City Council Steven Purcell has today (Sunday 7th March) announced the launch of the Glasgow Living Wage set at £7 an hour.
Speaking at the Scottish Labour Party conference, Steven Purcell announced that:
- the Living Wage will be the guaranteed minimum for all Council employees and will increase the basic salary of the lowest paid Council workers by over £1100 a year.
- the Council will encourage its suppliers to pay staff working on Council business a Living Wage by building it into contracts.
- a Glasgow Living Wage Employer Award will be developed to encourage wider uptake by employers in the public, private and voluntary sector.
Councillor Purcell said: “Glasgow has made great strides in the last ten years with 40,000 more Glaswegians in work and a city economy which generates more than £14 billion per annum. However, we know that not all of our citizens are able to share in this success.
“I have always believed that work is the most effective route out of poverty yet the majority of children living in poverty in the UK now have at least one parent in paid employment.
“In order to tackle in-work poverty and encourage people back to work, we need to provide people with long-term skills, access to childcare and, most crucially, make work pay.
“Through our Modern Apprenticeship programme and Childcare Strategy we are providing skills and support but more can be done on low pay.
“It is simply unacceptable that almost one in five of Glasgow’s workers are paid less than £7 an hour and the Glasgow Living Wage has the potential to make a huge difference to thousands of families across the city.
“Through our procurement policy and the Glasgow Living Wage Employer Award, we will work with employers in the public, private and voluntary sector to encourage them to pay low paid workers a decent wage, potentially affecting up to 80,000 people across the city.
“Whilst there are clear social and economic benefits to Glasgow, the introduction of a Living Wage can also provide real benefits to employers in terms of staff morale, productivity and quality.
“In times of economic difficulties, we know that the lowest paid workers suffer disproportionately. I believe that the introduction of the Glasgow Living Wage is the right thing to do and it is another vital step towards ensuring that all of our citizens can share in the city’s success.”
Notes to editors
1. A “Living Wage” can be defined as the level of income needed to provide an acceptable standard of living in Britain to ensure good health, adequate child development and social inclusion.
2. Research from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has calculated that the living wage for a single working-age adult in Britain is £6.88 per hour.
3. The Annual Survey of Household Earnings 2008 calculated that there were 394,000 jobs in the Glasgow City Council area. 20% of these jobs pay less than £7.14 an hour.
4. In terms of part-time employees, 40% of employees are paid less than £6.64 an hour.
5. Glasgow is the first Local Authority in Scotland to establish a Living Wage. The first in Britain was the London Living Wage, launched by Mayor Ken Livingstone in 2005.
6. Feedback from contractors in London who have implemented the Living Wage has identified benefits including;
- easier recruitment and retention, reducing recruitment costs
- higher quality staff
- better attendance
- better productivity, motivation and loyalty
- better quality of service
7. Council staff employed at Grade 1 from 2009/10 will earn a starting salary of £13,340 compared to £12,200 prior to the introduction of the Living Wage.
8. There are currently 681 members of staff working in Glasgow City Council who earn less than £7 an hour.