TRADE UNIONIST AND SOCIALIST COALITION (TUSC) CANDIDATES IN NEXT YEAR’S COUNCIL ELECTIONS PLEDGE ACTION ON COST OF LIVING CRISIS
Nancy Taaffe, Socialist Party member and Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition candidate said: “Boris Johnsons’ increase of 25p on the London Living Wage to £8.55 per hour is an insult to hard working Londoners. The fact that politicians in London think that this will be enough to live on shows how completely out of touch they are with working class people. The London Living Wage can be opted in and out of by employers as they see fit. A paltry 200 employers have signed up to the living wage since it was introduced in 2005. This means that just 11,500 actually benefit from it.
“To actually work, any measures on addressing low wages have be mandatory. This means that the politicians have to stand up to big business rather than governing in their interests as they do now. We say that employers should be forced to pay a living wage rather than offered a tax break to do so. Of course small companies that genuinely need support should get it. But big companies that refuse should be taken into public ownership.
“TUSC is calling for trade unions across London to campaign for a genuine living wage of £10 per hour. If you want councillors that will genuinely take action on the cost of living crisis then vote for your local TUSC candidates. If elected we will fight for councils to adopt measures to introduce a living wage and hold those ones that already have signed up to their word. We will also campaign against employers who are not paying workers a decent days wage for a decent days work.”