- Conference
- 2014 National Black Members' Conference
- Date
- 1 October 2013
- Decision
- Carried
The coalitions government’s ongoing austerity measures, cuts to jobs and public services, pay freezes in the public sector, privatisation, low pay, lack of socially affordable housing, the bedroom tax, rent increases, and zero hour contracts are all key elements in the current drastic reduction of living standards experienced by Black workers and Black communities since the advent of the coalition government. As social inequality and poverty increases Black workers including Black migrant workers are often those workers bearing the brunt of low pay, poverty wages, precarious work and the insecurity of zero hours contracts.
Some local authorities and public sector employers have been encouraged to adopt the Living wage – £8.55 per hour in London – £7.45 in other parts of the UK. This figure is set independently by the Living Wage Unit of the Greater London Authority for London and by the Centre for Research in Social Policy at Loughborough University for the rest of the UK. It is up rated annually in Living Wage Week in November. Unlike the national minimum wage (currently set at £6.19 per hour), the living wage is not a statutory requirement but a voluntary undertaking.
Therefore conference calls upon the National Black Members Committee to take the following actions:
1)Work with other parts of Unison to promote the Living Wage campaign more widely particularly in respect to Black workers, Black Migrant workers and the ‘Hidden’ workforce
2)Work with Regional Black Members Groups’, and Local Branches Black Self-Organised Groups to support Black community campaigns calling for Black Workers and Black Migrant Workers to receive a Living wage from their employers.