This in from MYP, Will Matthews. Ed
On Saturday 24th January, Will Matthews, Member of Youth Parliament (MYP) for the Isle of Wight joined MYPs from across the UK in meeting with MPs and Councillors to request their support for our national campaign to establish a ‘living wage for all’ during their national day of action.
Members of Youth Parliament asked all local councils to become living wage employers and to ensure that all their contractors are too. They also asked local councils and MPs for their support to in promoting the campaign to local businesses.
Our call for support has a mandate. It follows a national ballot of 876,000 young people across the UK in the autumn 2014, when ‘living wage for all’ topped the poll from our manifesto. A subsequent debate and vote in the House of Commons on November 14th 2014, by 285 elected Members of Youth Parliament, resulted in the living wage being adopted as our priority campaign for 2015.
The policy motion as recorded in Hansard reads:
“The national minimum wage should be raised in line with the living wage, as calculated by the centre for research in social policy, in order to guarantee workers the decent standard of living they deserve.”
Will Matthews, Member of Youth Parliament for the Isle of Wight said:
“The living wage is really important. I’m really pleased the Isle of Wight Council have agreed to pay the living wage to ALL employees and contractors by 2017, and that our MP, Andrew Turner, already pays it to his staff!”
