Green motion pledges council to make living wage a priority
30 September 2008
News from the Green Party | 1 October 2008
GREEN MOTION PLEDGES COUNCIL TO MAKE LIVING WAGE A PRIORITY
Norwich City Council has voted to support World Day for Decent Work and make the creation of a Living Wage for workers in Norwich a priority.
In a motion put to the Norwich City Council meeting on 30 September by Green Councillor Samir Jeraj, the Council pledged its support to the World Day for Decent Work on 7th October 2008. It also agreed to put issues around decent work, including low wages, poverty and inequality in the city, at the core of its agenda.
The motion was proposed and supported by the thirteen-strong Green Party Group on Norwich City Council. Labour and LibDem councillors also supported the motion, but Conservative councillors abstained.
Councillor Jeraj said:
"I'm delighted our motion gained the support of the council. Low pay is a particular problem in Norwich and East Anglia as a whole. Working people in Norwich can experience many problems, including low wages, financial exclusion, inequality, difficulties claiming benefits and pressure from doorstep lenders charging up to 1000% interest. It is important that the council makes tackling these issues a high priority."
Adrian Ramsay, Deputy Leader of the Green Party nationally and Leader of the Green Party Group on Norwich City Council, said:
"Gaining a Living Wage for Norwich would go a long way to addressing poverty and inequality in the city. The London Living Wage Unit, set up thanks to Green Assembly Members, has lifted many people out of poverty wages, and has been credited with improving productivity, reducing sickness and boosting the local economy. I hope we will make similar progress in Norwich.
"The administration on Norwich City Council was already committed to the principle of a Living Wage. I hope the motion will ensure it is made a priority and detailed plans for taking the matter forward are brought forward as soon as possible. A first step must be ensuring that the council is leading by example in terms of fair pay for council workers and people working for CityCare and other companies doing work for the council."
Greens nationally have made campaigning for a Living Wage a key priority for action. The London Living Wage is now £7.45 per hour, more than £1.70 more than the National Minimum Wage. In Oxford, Greens have succeeded in passing a motion through the City Council, bringing in a living wage of £7 per hour for council workers there.
And in Lewisham, the six strong Green Group is proposing a paying the London Living Wage to all council employees, and is proposing extending this to all council contractors as well.
Campaigners for a Living Wage argue that the minimum wage is in fact a poverty wage in most areas of the UK. Of children living in poverty across the country, 57% have one or both of their parents in work, but their wages are not enough to support their families.
Notes:
1. The World Day for Decent Work is organised by unions and campaigners around the world on 7th October. It aims to highlight the need for governments to support job creation and decent pay and conditions for workers.:
[from: http://www.global-unions.org/spip.php?rubrique59]
Every person on earth should be able to have a job that enables them to live a good life in which their basic needs are met. Employment is a crucial factor for achieving this. This is why all governments should be urged to work more on job creation. Not just any jobs, of course, but decent jobs for everybody.
It is often argued that countries cannot afford to have fair wages and better conditions, however the short-term costs will quickly be outstripped by the long-term benefits. That is why Decent Work is the best way to fight global poverty. To most people around the world, lack of decent work means poverty.
2. The Green Party motion passed by the City Council on 30 September reads:
Motion – Decent Work Day
As agreed by Norwich City Council, 30 September 2008
'That Council notes:
That 7 October 2008 is the World Day for Decent Work, a Trade Union led campaign to highlight the work being done to tackle issues of Decent Work around the world. These issues include:
• migration; discrimination; equality; forced labour; human trafficking; child labour; informal economy; climate issues (green jobs); health and safety; social protection; poverty and food crisis.
• half of the world's workforce earns less than 2 US $ (£1) a day . 12.3 million women and men work in slavery. 200 million children under the age of 15 work instead of going to school. 2.2 million people die due to workrelated accidents and diseases every year. People in developed and developing countries work more for less money, and more and more people - overwhelmingly women - are forced to make their living without social protection or rights and in precarious jobs, often in parts of the so-called informal economy.
This Council believes that:
• 'Decent Work' is vital to both tackling poverty and building communities;
• discrimination and low wage exploitation are wrong and lead to poverty, crime and social tension.
This Council resolves to ask the Executive to put plans and time into:
(1) strengthening its existing commitment contained in the Corporate Plan including:-
(a) supporting free English lessons for migrants and their families;
(b) committing itself to a 'living wage' policy;
(c) tackling deprivation and poverty in Norwich;
(d) supporting the victims of exploitation and discrimination by providing services which are both accessible and available to all.
(2) ensuring that the Decent Work agenda is included in the Council’s work to tackle poverty and deprivation in Norwich;
(3) working towards a living wage policy for the whole of the City.’
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