“It’s called the National Minimum Wage for a reason – the Government needs to act to ensure that nobody is paid less than it.”
Richard Burgon MP
A group of 31 Labour MPs have written to the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak MP, calling on him to ”introduce a minimum wage floor to financial support during this pandemic so no worker is paid less than the minimum wage.”
The letter, organised by Richard Burgon MP, raises the issue of the significant cut in pay that many minimum wage workers will soon be facing under the Government’s Job Support Scheme. The issue is particularly important as 8 million people in the UK will be living under the toughest ‘Tier 3’ restrictions from this week.
The letter notes that ”Minimum wage workers in workplaces forced to shut in very high virus areas will, from next week, be paid just two-thirds of the minimum wage under the Job Support Scheme. For workers aged 25 and over, this will be as low as just £5.81 per hour.”
The letter also acknowledges that ”A high proportion of workers in the sectors hit hardest by this pandemic are paid the minimum wage, and many will already have lost a significant amount of their income as a result of this pandemic.”
Labour MP for Leeds East Richard Burgon, who organised the letter, said “even before this crisis, many minimum wage workers were struggling to get by. Now they are going to be forced further into poverty.
“Given the cost of rent, bills and food have stayed the same, how can we expect people to manage on just two-thirds of the minimum wage?
“It’s called the National Minimum Wage for a reason – the Government needs to act to ensure that nobody is paid less than it.”
The Low Pay Commission estimates that there were 2 million workers paid at or below the minimum wage in April 2019, around 7% of all UK workers, and The Low Pay Commission estimates that nearly half (48%) of all jobs paying at or below the minimum wage are in retail, hospitality and cleaning & maintenance occupations
- The full text of the letter (October 27) is as follows:
Dear Chancellor,
A Minimum Wage Floor in the Job Support Scheme
Minimum wage workers in workplaces forced to shut in very high virus areas will, from next week, be paid just two-thirds of the minimum wage under the Job Support Scheme.
For workers aged 25 and over, this will be as low as just £5.81 per hour, equivalent to the minimum wage level of 11 years ago. For younger workers it will be even less.
Many workers in businesses not forced to close also face being paid less than the minimum wage.
No-one should ever be expected to live on less than the minimum wage.
Without such a minimum wage floor to the Job Support Scheme during this pandemic many of our constituents will receive pay that is completely inadequate to meet even their basic needs. Even before the pandemic many of them were struggling to make ends meet because of low pay.
A high proportion of workers in the sectors hit hardest by this pandemic are paid the minimum wage, and many will already have lost a significant amount of their income as a result of this pandemic. The Government has a responsibility to ensure that this public health crisis does not become a social crisis for millions of people.
The introduction of the minimum wage was an important step forward in the campaign against low pay and that must not be undermined during this pandemic.
We ask you to urgently review this matter and introduce a minimum wage floor to financial support during this pandemic so no worker is paid less than the minimum wage.
Yours sincerely,
Richard Burgon MP
Diane Abbott MP
Tahir Ali MP
Paula Barker MP
Apsana Begum MP
Olivia Blake MP
Ian Byrne MP
Jeremy Corbyn MP
Jon Cruddas MP
Mary Foy MP
Margaret Greenwood MP
Rachel Hopkins MP
Kim Johnson MP
Ian Lavery MP
Clive Lewis MP
Tony Lloyd MP
Rebecca Long-Bailey MP
John McDonnell MP
Ian Mearns MP
Grahame Morris MP
Kate Osamor MP
Kate Osborne MP
Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP
Lloyd Russell-Moyle MP
Zarah Sultana MP
Jon Trickett MP
Claudia Webbe MP
Mick Whitley MP
Nadia Whittome MP
Beth Winter MP
Mohammad Yasin MP.
