Your Newcastle Labour council has acted to make sure work pays – byintroducing a Living Wage that will help thousands of the lowest paid in the city.
Labour has taken a significant step to tackling inequality and child poverty by implementing a Living Wage of £7.20 an hour.
The pay rise will benefit 2,200 staff employed by the council. Full time employees will be as much as £1,100 a year better off after tax.
Labour-led Newcastle Council are the first in the region to introduce a Living Wage, which is an important tool in helping ensuring the jobs of some of the lowest paid workers are valued – meaning hard graft pays a decent wage.
Crucially the council is also spearheading a city-wide campaign among businesses to lobby employers to pay staff currently on the national minimum wage, at the higher Newcastle Living Wage level.
So far up to 30 firms have expressed and interest and taken part in workshops with a view to paying their staff more.
Businesses such as KPMG and Lush have already introduced the Living Wage.
Research shows better paid staff are more loyal, have lower sickness rates, greater productivity and are more motivated – and the extra cash provides a boost to the local economy.
The council will retain control of it’s own Living Wage rate. It will cost just under £1 million to implement, funded by savings in management structures, at no detriment to services.
Cllr Nick Forbes, said: “The Living Wage is about the council and wider society sending a clear message that we value the low paid staff who do vital jobs such as cleaners, supervisory assistants and kitchen assistants.
“We live in a very unequal society with some people earning telephone number salaries and others really struggling to get by. This move is about making Newcastle fairer and more at ease with itself as we attempt to reduce the gap between the richest and the poorest.
“A living wage makes good business sense too; research shows that putting more money into the pockets of the lowest paid means more is spent in local shops giving a welcome boost to our economy.”