More than minimal

Written by Stuart Tooley Sunday, 17 January 2010 15:44

Stuart Tooley urges students to join the campaign to raise the minimum wage above the poverty line...

The Living Wage campaign on campus is in its infancy, but it is moving quickly and achieving for workers and students alike. As Chair of the Unite the Union Society, who have been harbouring this project, I have seen first hand the progress of the campaign.

The Living Wage is a natural progression of the National Minimum Wage. When Labour introduced the minimum wage, there were those – including the Conservative Party – who derided the policy and claimed that it would drive up inflation and put small companies out of business. What we saw was quite the opposite, as companies and the country as a whole enjoyed an unprecedented period of growth. The aim of the policy was to say ensure a legally binding minimum income for our country’s poorest workers, and a minimum standard of living that everyone should enjoy. However, I would argue that this has not gone far enough in bringing that standard of living up and helping people to escape poverty. The Living Wage campaign aims to do just that.

The Living Wage is simply the minimum wage that a full time employee must be paid to stay out of poverty. For Scotland, that wage is £7.00/hour. This is a full £1.20 above the minimum wage for over 21s. The difference may seem large or small to you, but I can assure you that for those receiving low pay, it makes a world of difference.

So for poverty prevention, this is clearly a positive policy. But actively targeting public sector employers not paying the Living Wage will not only help the employees, but also help the economy. In an economic crisis where demand is being artificially increased with massive bailouts and fiscal stimuli, this is a cost-effective way for the public sector to plough money into the economy. For every extra pound a low-paid worker earns, more of it will be spent and circulated round the economy again – a lot better use than propping up bankers’ bonuses.

This is not pie-in-the-sky idealism. Nor is it only a concern for the public sector. The Living Wage campaign has already had considerable success. A community-led campaign in London has led to over £24 million being put in the pockets of the poorest workers. Companies and projects signed up to the scheme include Pricewaterhouse Coopers,Barclays, KPMG, and London’s Olympics, making London 2012 the first Living Wage Olympics.

Another success, also from London, has been Queen Mary University, the first Living Wage University campus. There have been further successes in SOAS and Birkbeck College in the last few years. Edinburgh has the opportunity to become the first Living Wage University in Scotland. But this will not be an easy campaign. Edinburgh University is a complex institution, and the avenues to change are neither obvious nor welcoming. We start from an envious position, with all cleaners – an especially vulnerable group – working directly for Edinburgh University, and already earning over the Living Wage. However, much less is known about the wages paid by Edinburgh First, the contracted-out company that runs many of the University’s commercial services. We, who inhabit and work within the University of Edinburgh are uniquely placed to put pressure on our university to change.

But change must start at home. Policy supporting the Living Wage has sailed through the EUSA committee structures with unanimous backing. It is time for EUSA to hear students’ calls for better wages for its workers who run our student services so effectively. I welcome the beginnings of discussions towards that end, and I hope that the political will exists to push forward this important agenda.
This is a campaign that has a great public support, with politicians, societies and individuals from the whole political spectrum endorsing it (even Boris Johnson is a prominent supporter.)
It is only through the support of the students, academics and workers of Edinburgh University that we will succeed, and I urge you to get involved if you believe in the same potential for change that I do.

Stuart Tooley is chair of the Unite the Union Society

*Printed on December 1st 2009*

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