- Conference
- 2024 National Young Members' Conference
- Date
- 26 July 2024
- Decision
- Carried
Conference, we applaud those employers who provide their apprentices with a good introduction to their working life, offering a generous benefits package and high quality training and offering a clear pathway into employment.
Regrettably not all apprentices are in this position. Many experience poor quality training opportunity and poverty wages. The lowest hourly wage for an apprentice is currently only £6.40, only 53% of the living wage foundation recommended living wage. According to the low pay commission one in four apprentices are paid less than their NMW age rate – whether that is the National Living Wage or the 18-20 year old rate.
This is not enough to enable a decent standard of living for a person of any age.
We recognise that UNISON has previously campaigned for better working conditions for apprentices by introducing the apprenticeship charter, however we feel more should be done, especially in regards apprentice wages.
This conference deplores that current living wage accreditation does not require employers to pay the living wage to apprentices and calls upon the national young members forum to:
• Work with other relevant areas of the union to lobby the living wage foundation to take account of apprentice wages when considering accreditation.
• Work with regions, service groups and labour link to highlight the issues faced by young apprentices and to campaign to improve their wages to at least national living wages and to improve working conditions for our youngest members.