John Prescott talking about Wage Concern - the Campaign to Save the National Minimum Wage
Usdaw, the shopworkers union, is leading a campaign to save the National Minimum Wage from a Tory Bill to scrap it.
They have teamed up with Johns Go Fourth campaign and other unions, to launch Wage Concern to stop a Tory Private Members Bill that will totally undermine the Minimum Wage and drive millions of workers back to poverty pay.
The Employment Opportunities Bill, tabled by Senior Conservative Christopher Chope, who as a minister helped bring in the Poll Tax, is timetabled for its second reading in Parliament next Friday 15 May.
During the Bills first reading, Mr Chope said it will: introduce more freedom, flexibility and opportunity for those seeking employment in the public and private sectors.
The bill, which is supported by ten other Tory MPs, aims to:
- allow employees to opt-out of the minimum wage
- ensure all public sector jobs are advertised openly
- grant the right to work under the Declaration of Human Rights by allowing workers to be paid less than the minimum wage
Usdaw campaigned for a Labour Government to introduce the minimum wage in 1999.
The Union is now asking all trade unionists and working people to save the minimum wage by signing the petition launched today at www.wageconcern.com.
John Hannett, Usdaw General Secretary and member of the Low Pay Commission, said:
The Minimum Wage provides income protection and security for millions of workers. It stops unscrupulous employers from driving down wages across the board. The new Tory Employment Opportunities Bill would allow employers to opt out of their responsibility to their staff to pay a fair days wage for a fair days work and effectively bring an end to the national minimum wage.
This shows the Tories in their true light and is a little insight into what a Conservative Government would do. They are still fighting the battles of the 1980s and 90s when they abolished the wages councils and left my members and millions of other workers without wage protection. David Cameron talks about an age of austerity, well we now know that he means it for low-paid workers.
There is always pressure on wages and the Minimum Wage is needed to ensure people are paid fairly. I urge anyone who cares about the protection of our workforce to log on to www.wageconcern.com and sign the petition to save our Minimum Wage.
John Prescott added:
Only a Tory could suggest that not being able to work for less than the Minimum Wage would be a denial of Human Rights. This from a party that actually wants to abolish the Human Rights Act and provide cheaper labour.
We call on everyone who believes in fairness and social justice to join Wage Concern and help us kill this Tory Bill on May 15th.
Wage Concern is a grassroots campaign to stop that bill - and we need your help.
You can do that by:
1. Signing our petition http://tinyurl.com/dlvncb
2. Joining our campaign mailing list http://wageconcern.com/mailing-list/
3. Getting your friends to join our Facebook group http://tinyurl.com/c2sxlg
4. Lobby your MP http://wageconcern.com/act-now/
5. Join us at the House of Commons to kill this Tory Bill on Friday 15th May. http://wageconcern.com/parliament/
Follow the campaign at http://wageconcern.com
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