{"id":3410,"date":"2015-03-20T10:54:17","date_gmt":"2015-03-20T10:54:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=3410"},"modified":"2015-03-20T12:39:52","modified_gmt":"2015-03-20T12:39:52","slug":"nothing-comes-from-nothing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=3410","title":{"rendered":"Nothing comes from nothing"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s that time of year again\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthe government announces a minimum wage hike, as it did on Tuesday (March 17), and pats itself on the back for how much it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s improved the lot of the lowest paid and hardest working among us.<\/p>\n

 
\nThe statutory minimum will go up to a grand total of \u00c2\u01416.70 an hour in October, a 20p increase from what it is today, at \u00c2\u01416.50.<\/p>\n

 
\nThe coalition government claims this is the largest real terms increase since 2008\u00e2\u20ac\u201da 3 per cent hike.<\/p>\n

 
\nTrue enough, but if we consider that the National Minimum Wage has barely petered along over the term of the coalition government, with almost every yearly hike being below the rate of inflation, something ever-so-slightly higher sounds a lot better than it actually is.<\/p>\n

 
\nBeyond the government spin, let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s take a look at what the hike in the National Minimum Wage actually amounts to.<\/p>\n

 
\nWith a 20p hike, minimum wage workers can expect to pocket \u00c2\u01418 extra a week for a 40-hour work week\u00e2\u20ac\u201dnot even enough to buy two meals from a fast food chain.<\/p>\n

 
\nOr as a BBC economics editor put it in his analysis<\/a>, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt would allow the recipient of that wage to rent a one-bedroom place in a dowdier part of London, so long as he or she didn’t eat, use power, pay council tax or wear clothes.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nAnd what consolation is the highest minimum wage hike since 2008, when the average worker in Britain is \u00c2\u01415,000 a year worse off since that same year?<\/a><\/p>\n

 
\nEarning your own poverty<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

 
\nUnite assistant general secretary Steve Turner argued that a National Minimum Wage that remains so low will do nothing help working people in Tory Britain.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bA minimum wage increase may make headlines but it disguises the starkest realities of what it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s like to be a working person in Cameron\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s austerity Britain earning your own poverty,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bPutting a paltry 20p on the minimum wage is a slap in the face to the millions of men and women working incredibly hard, often in two and three jobs whilst relying on it in Tory Britain.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll make little difference to those struggling with growing debt in casual, insecure jobs facing cuts to hours and soaring costs. And while workers live through the longest decline in living standards since the 1870\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s corporate Britain continues to boost profits at the taxpayers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 expense through a corporate welfare subsidy for low pay in the form of tax credits and housing benefit.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bFor young people the discrimination in minimum wage rates is unacceptable and must end,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Turner added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bFor those seeking vocational training to meet the national skills crisis, the apprentice rate, far from increasing by 20 per cent should be scrapped, putting an end to its use by exploitative employers who pay even less than the minimum wage while providing questionable training let alone a proper apprenticeship.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\n Way forward<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

 
\nBusiness secretary Vince Cable hit out at critics of Tuesday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s minimum wage hike.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bPeople who say it is nowhere near enough, need to explain how else we do it,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said, suggesting that a higher increase would be unaffordable.<\/p>\n

 
\nBut If Cable had been paying attention, he would know that an explanation for \u00e2\u20ac\u015bhow else we do it\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 already exists.<\/p>\n

 
\nAn independent analysis commissioned by Unite<\/a> last year found that not only is a significant minimum wage hike entirely affordable, but it would also be a boon to public finances, in the form of higher income tax receipts. Raised net wages would also prime consumer demand and boost GDP.<\/p>\n

 
\nTurner argued that the way forward was clear.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe answer of course is simple \u00e2\u20ac\u201c pay workers fairly for a hard day\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s work! And if we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re serious about this we need strong, powerful trade unions engaging in sector level collective bargaining to raise wages and address growing inequalities.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIn the meantime, boosting the minimum wage by an immediate \u00c2\u01411.50 an hour would lift millions out of absolute poverty and put money in the pockets of those who will spend it, not stash it away in the nearest tax haven. This has the added additional benefit of slashing \u00e2\u20ac\u0098corporate welfare\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 by some \u00c2\u01413bn which can be better spent investing in jobs, homes and hope across our nations.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s that time of year again\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthe government announces a minimum wage hike, as it did on Tuesday (March 17), and pats itself on the back for how much it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s improved the lot of the lowest paid and hardest working among us.   The statutory minimum will go up to a grand total of \u00c2\u01416.70 an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2092,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[215],"wps_subtitle":"Min wage rise makes little difference to lowest paid ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3410"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3410"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3410\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3411,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3410\/revisions\/3411"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}