8 November 2012
UNISON WELCOMES EDINBURGH LIVING WAGE
UNISON has welcomed Edinburgh council’s
intention to pay a minimum ‘living wage’ of £7.50
an hour to its lowest paid council workers from
January.
The union estimates 2,000 mainly low paid
women will benefit.
Andy Barnett, Edinburgh UNISON Branch Secretary,
said:
“
This welcome announcement in Living Wage
Week comes just after UNISON and the council agreed
equal pay settlements for 3,000 low paid staff – another
example of how much it benefits workers to be in
their union.
“Edinburgh’s Labour and SNP ‘capital
coalition’ have been as good as their word
and have taken on board the argument UNISON made
for the higher £7.50 minimum rate and early
implementation.”
John Stevenson, Edinburgh UNISON Branch President,
added:
“
We have long campaigned for a Living Wage
and made detailed submissions to the council on
the benefits it would bring not just for staff,
but for Edinburgh’s local economy. All the
research shows that workers spend any extra money
locally giving a boost to the local shops and businesses
that are so badly affected by the government’s
austerity measures.
“The next step is to campaign for the Edinburgh
Living Wage to apply to all contractors and to
convince businesses across the city of the benefits
of paying their staff a living wage.”
ENDS