Living Wage a Must for Fifers

Fife Council Labour leader Alex Rowley has welcomed the announcement by Ian Gray that the Scottish Labour Party will introduce a Scottish Living wage of £7.15 per hour for public sector workers if they win the Scottish elections next May.

Alex Rowley said; “Fife Labour put forward a motion last year in the council for Fife Council to adopt this position but it was voted down by SNP and Lib Dem councillors who are happy to support executives taking a £52 a week wage increase while freezing the wages of the lowest paid. There is far too much of a gap between the bottom and the top of the pay scales in Fife Council. The wages of those at the top have spiralled out of control over the last decade and it is time they were reduced”.

“The reality is that many of the hard working front line workers have had a pay freeze over the last three years while executives pay has continued to rise at an extreme rate. This kind of greed and inequality is unacceptable and we need to give leadership and speak out against it. Those on low paid deserve a better rate and while finances will be tight it should be those with the excessive salaries who take the cut”.

Scottish Labour says that low paid, transient, unskilled work is not paid sufficient to lift people out of poverty. Introducing a Scottish Living Wage of £7.15 per hour will help remove barriers to employment by making work pay and help to tackle in-work poverty. It is further claimed that the introduction of a Scottish Living Wage would boost the economy by increasing the spending power of low paid workers. A study by Staffordshire Business School calculated the economic impact on Stoke-on-Trent of contracting out their home care service. The study concluded that for every £1 an hour more paid to a public sector care worker, £1.63 was injected into the local economy. According to Labour, if the same multiplier is applied to Scotland then the introduction of a Scottish Living Wage would inject over £32 million into the Scottish economy. This figure would increase substantially if private sector employers also adopted the living wage.

Mr Rowley also welcomed that proposal to link the living wage to any contracts being awarded to private companies. He said; “As well as ensuring that our workers have a minimum wage, we would be saying to any private contractor that if you want contracts from the council then you must pay your staff at least a living wage”.

He concluded; “I don’t think it is unreasonable or unrealistic for any organisation to pay their workers a minimum wage that means they can afford to work. The gap has widened and we must act to ensure that we address the scourge of low pay”.