GMB response to the Low pay Commission on the National Minimum Wage
8 Nov 2004
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The GMB - Britain's General Union - today publishes a national poll conducted
by NOP World aimed at surveying attitudes to the National Minimum Wage (NMW)
and the issue of low pay.
The poll is published one month after the uprating of the NMW to £4.85 an hour,
and shows that the majority of British people favour an hourly increase with
42% wanting £6 or more. GMB General Secretary Kevin Curran said:
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"I say this to Gordon Brown as he prepares to address Digby Jones and his
groupies in Birmingham: never mind the doom merchants of the CBI, who
scaremonger against any rise in the minimum wage claiming it would hurt
business.
"It's time to listen to the British people - this poll shows they want to see a
higher minimum wage. The results show a substantial percentage of people agree
on a figure of £6 or more. This is very encouraging, and the GMB will now
campaign vigorously for at least £6.
"In the name of business, Digby Jones and the CBI have long sought to deny
employment rights and a living wage to millions of people. He calls it
flexibility. It's the flexibility that allows hard-working people to be sacked
from low-paid jobs at the twitch of a fat cat's whisker. It's the flexibility
that is widening the gap between the huge salaries of many of Digby Jones's
members and the low wages of many of mine.
"The GMB wants to see the minimum wage become a living wage, pay that provides
enough to live on. So we asked NOP to survey opinions, across social classes
and regions, on exactly how much people feel they need to live on. 63% in our
survey said they needed £7 or more. A landmark achievement though it is, the
minimum wage has some catching up to do.
"The GMB has long said that the differentiation by age in the current minimum
wage structure. That is discriminatory and wrong. In our survey, we also asked
if people feel it is right that there should be a lower minimum hourly wage for
people under 22. GMB members believe people should be paid the same rate for
the same job, regardless of age. Today we can show that 63% of British people
agree.
"We also wanted to look at the issue of low pay. It's a little known fact that
30% of people at work in this country rely on state assistance - benefits, tax
credits and the like - to get by on low wages. We asked if people felt that was
acceptable. 60% of the people surveyed agreed that it is not."
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