I am delighted to be able to confirm that 2500 staff in our schools and council offices will now get paid a minimum of £7.43 an hour. A LOCAL LIVING WAGE.
We have been challenging the Council on this for two years and in July I tried to force this through the Council but Labour refused. Now they have caved in and many staff who were earning the minimum wage will now be paid a local living wage – a fantastic success which we hope will open the floodgates to other employers in the county paying their staff more.
I am convinced that this will more than pay for itself in higher moral and productivity as well as better living standards.
Just goes to show that as councillors now and then we really do make a profound difference to our local residents. Here’s the Northern Echo report on this:
Now we carry on the battle to make sure that this increases each year, and seek to challenge other employers to do the same.