To mark Living Wage Week, UNISON has joined with ShareAction (a campaigning charity that works closely with the union) to use the power of our members’ pension funds to support the living wage.
Local government pension funds, and other UNISON member funds, hold billions of pounds worth of shares in the UK’s biggest companies – and with their shareholder power they can demand that those companies pay people a salary they can live on.
UNISON national officer Colin Meech says: “This investor power comes from members’ money, which gives us the right to call on those funds to do the right thing.
“We know this kind of tactic works. When UNISON and ShareAction (then called FairPensions) launched the JustPay! campaign for the living wage two years ago, just three of the biggest 100 companies in Britain paid their employees a living wage. Due to the pressure we’ve put on them together, 10 more of these corporate giants have now signed up.
“With the cost of living rising and many more working families struggling, this issue has never been more important: getting the biggest companies in Britain to pay the living wage will help tackle poverty in the UK head on.”
UNISON’s staff pension fund has committed its shares in the FTSE 100 to help this campaign.
Click here to ask your pension fund to support the living wage
