Myself and Neil Foster of the TUC will be making the case for the Living Wage live on Newcastle Radio tomorrow morning and debating the issue with the BBC presenters. I will be at my desk in the House of Commons but live on the phone.
The final report of the Living Wage Commission is out tomorrow: http://livingwagecommission.org.uk/
I am going to the launch event and discussion in the afternoon in central london.
The London Living Wage is £8.80
The UK Living Wage is £7.65
At the event we held in Newcastle on March 28th the number of companies paying the Living Wage in the North East was below 30 but the figure is growing month on month as we sell the message that this is good for business, and good for jobs as well as good for employees.
If you have not read it my article for the New Statesman on the Living Wage is here:
http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2013/08/guy-opperman-conservative-case-living-wage
Showing posts with label TUC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TUC. Show all posts
Monday, 23 June 2014
Wednesday, 26 March 2014
Living Wage Conference this Friday morning in Newcastle
The Living Wage Foundation and I have been working together for a while now, and we want to spread the Living Wage message to the North East. I have met with and worked closely with Boris Johnson and his team in London, and seen the changes their leadership is bringing in London. In addition, I have met with many employers and employees, and discussed the nuts and bolts of payment of a Living Wage for both the employee and the employer. As a result I want to hold Friday's event to raise the profile of the Living Wage in the North East.
Like everyone I welcome the increase in National Minimum Wage - up 19p to £6.50 from October, but this does not change the bottom-up argument for the Living Wage. I do not support a statutory Living Wage. It should continue to be an organic, voluntary campaign, because that is when it is at its best; certainly if you look at London and the South East the campaign has really taken off and gained momentum.
Part of Friday is making the case to employers, and the wider public, and showing that businesses can benefit from paying the Wage, just as much as employees can. I have spoken to businesses that say that morale has been boosted, productivity increased and staff turnover decreased, as a result of paying the Wage. We need to shout about these benefits. Fridays event, beginning at 9.30, will feature such diverse employers as KPMG, our hosts, to the local housing provider, Aquila Way, with representatives from the Church, Councillors, other local businesses and such key stakeholders as the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the TUC. It is not too late to come along, whether to listen to us make the case or merely to observe - but call the Hexham office if you want to come. As Boris and the PM have made clear - "this is an idea whose time has come".
If you want to read more, my detailed article on the subject, and an assessment of the pros and cons for a volontary Living Wage is in last summer's New Statesman here: http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2013/08/guy-opperman-conservative-case-living-wage
Like everyone I welcome the increase in National Minimum Wage - up 19p to £6.50 from October, but this does not change the bottom-up argument for the Living Wage. I do not support a statutory Living Wage. It should continue to be an organic, voluntary campaign, because that is when it is at its best; certainly if you look at London and the South East the campaign has really taken off and gained momentum.
Part of Friday is making the case to employers, and the wider public, and showing that businesses can benefit from paying the Wage, just as much as employees can. I have spoken to businesses that say that morale has been boosted, productivity increased and staff turnover decreased, as a result of paying the Wage. We need to shout about these benefits. Fridays event, beginning at 9.30, will feature such diverse employers as KPMG, our hosts, to the local housing provider, Aquila Way, with representatives from the Church, Councillors, other local businesses and such key stakeholders as the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the TUC. It is not too late to come along, whether to listen to us make the case or merely to observe - but call the Hexham office if you want to come. As Boris and the PM have made clear - "this is an idea whose time has come".
If you want to read more, my detailed article on the subject, and an assessment of the pros and cons for a volontary Living Wage is in last summer's New Statesman here: http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2013/08/guy-opperman-conservative-case-living-wage
Thursday, 6 February 2014
There is no justification for the London Tube Strike - Bob Crow should be ashamed of himself
Before I criticise the strike, Mr Crow, and this unions decision I should make a few things clear:
I wholeheartedly support trade unions. I have also spent a large amount of my working life as a lawyer representing employees, and I have seen the positive side of constructive trade union work. But, on any interpretation, I struggle to see the merit of the Tube Strike called by Bob Crow. Others have had a dig at Crow's decision to go on holiday. I do not mind that. Everyone is entitled to a holiday. Nor am I going to point out that he earns more than the Prime Minister, yet continues to live in a council house, as a reason why the strike action is wrong - such matters are an issue for his union members, and local authority. I am not even going to have a dig at the Labour party for not condemning this farce, albeit the braver Labour MPs have done so.
This strike is about the threat of redundancy from staff, who will lose their jobs because of ticket office closures and mechanisations. The reason is simple: at most tube stations now there is no need of personnel to dispense tickets. Machines and computers can do the job, and cost far far less - thereby reducing the cost of the fare / cost of living. The irony of the Labour campaign on this issue seems lost on Crow and the Labour party.
The strike by Crow is his attempt at saying the world is not automating - its like Canute holding back the oncoming tide. The world and the economy changes - that is a fact of life. We have to adapt.
Also, the strike is costing in excess of £100 million a day, in lost work, production and output in the South East. In the North East, I can point out that the Metro ticket offices are effectively unmanned. There are job losses involved in the decision by Boris Johnson, but there are no compulsory redundancies.
It was Barbara Castle, the former Labour minister, who asked:
“When the bus drivers go out on a wildcat strike, what about the woman waiting at the bus stop with her shopping and her children?”
Her point was that the sectional interests of one group of workers should not trump the general wellbeing – something for which Mr Crow has shown little consideration.
This strike is not progress, or a workers struggle. It also reflects badly on the good work trade unions do, and loses them sympathy for the real fights that really matter.
Saturday, 28 September 2013
TUC, Newcastle Uni and Tim Montgomerie all feature in my debates sunday in Manchester
The Resolution Foundation has asked Tim Montgomerie, Frances O'Grady, David Skelton and I onto the panel for the Resolution Foundation and TUC debate on "Tackling Low Pay" on Sunday between 6-7 inside the conference zone at Exchange 6. I will be welcoming the increase in the minimum wage, making the case for a living wage and talking about what government and businesses can do to address low pay. Both Tim and Frances are outstanding speakers and there are more key players on the panel like Mary Riddell and Gavin Kelly. It will be a fascinating session.
I hope we will also be discussing the wider plans that David Skelton and I are working upon to address blue collar issues more generally. These include action on apprenticeships, education, supporting the unions and giving union members free membership of the Conservative party, if they want to. For my part I see the unions as a key player in addressing low pay. It is not simply about money, although that is fundamental. Of almost more importance is a pragmatic relationship between unions, employers and employees.
I will be 15 minutes late as I cannot fail to support the Newcastle University organised fringe next door in Exchange 4-5, starting at 5.30, where we will be examining "Wellbeing in Later Life" with Professor Tom Kirkwood CBE, from the University plus the Minister, David Willetts MP, Norma Cohen from the FT and Dr Lynne Corner. Tom's work is genuinely groundbreaking and addresses a key issue which everyone has to deal with.
Please come along
I hope we will also be discussing the wider plans that David Skelton and I are working upon to address blue collar issues more generally. These include action on apprenticeships, education, supporting the unions and giving union members free membership of the Conservative party, if they want to. For my part I see the unions as a key player in addressing low pay. It is not simply about money, although that is fundamental. Of almost more importance is a pragmatic relationship between unions, employers and employees.
I will be 15 minutes late as I cannot fail to support the Newcastle University organised fringe next door in Exchange 4-5, starting at 5.30, where we will be examining "Wellbeing in Later Life" with Professor Tom Kirkwood CBE, from the University plus the Minister, David Willetts MP, Norma Cohen from the FT and Dr Lynne Corner. Tom's work is genuinely groundbreaking and addresses a key issue which everyone has to deal with.
Please come along
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