At last night’s full council meeting (read the live coverage) the majority of councillors present voted in favour (27) of Cllr Geoff Lumley’s (Lab) Living Wage motion. Six councillors chose to abstain from voting.
Following the meeting, Cllr Geoff Lumley told OnTheWight,
“Given even the Tory Prime Minister and Tory London Mayor support a Living Wage I was disappointed that five local Tory councillors abstained without giving us their reasons.
“The UKIP councillor present did what we are learning to expect, as they don’t understand the real lives of ordinary people.”
Boris Johnson: “Living wage … morally right”
The motion called on the council to ‘aspire’ to ensure that all employees are paid at least the ‘Living Wage level’ by 2017.
Cllr Lumley opened by quoting London mayor, Boris Johnson, who said, “Paying the Living Wage is not only morally right, but makes good business sense.”
The councillor for Newport East went on to say,
“The Living Wage is part of a civilised society, the sort that I want to live in, not the sort of society where people have to use a foodbank to supplement the household meals during the week, who work on zero hour contracts and work on the minimum wage and try to bring a family up on that.
“It’s just morally right. It in every respect makes common sense, and let’s face it, if it’s good for business, even the Conservatives can support it.
“Let’s try and become a beacon employer.”
94% already on at least the Living Wage
Cllr Baker-Smith, the chair of the employment committee, thanked Cllr Lumley for bringing the motion to the meeting.
She told members there is currently a job evaluation taking place in the council. The indications from the initial pay modelling are that the council will see an increase from the current level of 94% of employees already on at least the Living Wage to 97% over the next few months.
Six councillors abstained
When the motion came to the vote, the majority of councillors still present in the chamber (several had left early) voted in favour. However, five Conservative councillors and the one UKIP councillor present chose to abstain.
They were:
Cllr Paul Bertie – Cowes North (Con)
Cllr Richard Hollis – Parkhurst (Con)
Cllr Stuart Hutchinson – West Wight (Con)
Cllr John Nicholson – Cowes South and Northwood (Con)
Cllr Daryll Pitcher – Wootton Bridge (UKIP)
Cllr Chris Whitehouse – Newport West (Con)
OnTheWight will be writing to them all to find out why they abstained. Check back later to see their reasoning
