Over 400 councillors sign Ed Miliband’s living wage letter

By Mark Ferguson / @markfergusonuk

Ed Miliband has been joined by over 400 councillors who have signed his open letter in support of a living wage. Signatories include Cllr Matthew Brown (Preston) who spearheaded Preston becoming a living wage employer, Cllr Matthew Pennycook (Greenwich) the former Head of Campaigns at the Fair Pay Network and Jim McMahon the Leader of Oldham Labour group.

Dear Sir,

With the coalition government set on jeopardising the anti-poverty gains made under the last government, it will increasingly fall to Labour councils to show what tackling poverty should look like.

It is no great mystery why 57% of children living in poverty do so despite having at least one member of their household in work. Endemic low pay and working poverty continue to blight the lives of millions of ordinary working people across Britain.

Paying a Living Wage is one solution to the problems of working poverty and a means of moving away from a labour market defined by a large number of low-paid jobs.

Labour Councils have led the way, with local authorities including Camden, Ealing, Glasgow, Greenwich, Hackney, Islington, Lambeth, Lewisham, Oxford, Preston, Southwark, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest already moving towards becoming Living Wage employers.

These and other pioneering Labour Groups have taken up the Living Wage not only because of the concept’s moral force and the dignity it provides to those in work, but because of the strong economic case underlying it – increased productivity, lower staff turnover, fewer sick days taken by staff and the benefits that flow to local businesses when low-paid workers have more income to spend on the necessities of life.

Many will question whether implementing the Living Wage is possible in the context of the coalition’s deep cuts to the public sector. There is no doubt it will be a long and hard journey. But we feel that making a commitment to getting there is not only a moral imperative but an essential step in tackling Britain’s low pay culture and the poverty that too often accompanies it.

Ed Miliband