MORAY TRADE UNIONISTS have welcomed a decision by major local employers to ensure that their staff are paid a living wage.
German-owned discount store chain Lidl have said that they will ensure all their staff receive a minimum £7.85 per hour with immediate effect – a move that has been mirrored by Moray whisky industry retailers and distillers Gordon & MacPhail.
The living wage rate is recognised as being the least required by employees to live on and allow them to work full time. Trade Unions around the UK say that the living wage should replace the current national minimum wage which, they insist, falls well below requirements.
John Leslie, chairman of the GMB Union, said: “It is refreshing to see more and more employers signing up.
“As a local trades council we have long pushed for local business to pay staff a living wage. It has been shown time and time again that by investing in the workforce then they will have higher motivated more productive employees who as a result will have more buying power in the local economy. It’s a win/win situation.
“Moray currently has some of the lowest average wages in the whole of the UK so it is vital that more local businesses sign up. Hopefully the example set here can banish the myth that a living wage is unaffordable for business. ”
Moray Trade Union Council meets at 7.15 on the third Monday of every month and is open to any local trade union members to attend.