The Living Wage Campaign

Last week, Ed Miliband wrote to the UK’s largest employers asking them to adopt the Living Wage.

The letters have gone to over 30 of the top businesses in the UK, including household names such as Marks and Spencer, Tesco and Holiday Inn. In the letters Ed outlines the moral and business case for the living wage, asks whether they already have a policy on it, and what steps they have taken or are intending to take to implement it.

Work should be a pathway out of poverty but for too many people it’s no such thing. The Minimum Wage was a great step in that direction, but leading businesses should be doing more than the minimum.

Since Citizens UK launched the Living Wage campaign in 2001, over 8,000 families have been lifted out of working poverty. There are already over 100 Living Wage employers accredited by Citizens UK including KPMG and Barclays. They’ve been convinced of the benefits to their business as well as the moral case – we want to encourage others to show the same leadership.

Citizens UK trustee Reverend Paul Regan backed the letter;

“Making sure that staff are paid enough to afford the essentials of life is the most basic corporate responsibility. In this difficult economic time it’s even more important that businesses become Living Wage Employers. We welcome Ed Miliband’s important contribution to this campaign and urge businesses to heed this call.”

The letters are targeting the retail, care and hospitality sectors which are the UK’s biggest low-wage employers including:

The Arcardia Group; Asda; Associated British Foods; BHS; Cadbury-Schweppes; Care UK; Carphone Warehouse; Cordia; Dairy Crest; Diageo; Four Seasons Health Care; Game Group; General Healthcare Group; HMV; Holiday Inn; Sainsburys; John Lewis; Kelloggs; KFC; Kingfisher; London Care; Marks & Spencer; McDonald’s; MFI; Morrisons; New Look; Next; Pizza Express; Primark; Southern Cross; Healthcare; Spar; Tesco; Unilever; WH Smith.

You can read the letter in full below. We intend to publish the responses to his letter in September.

Dear Chief Executive,

I am writing to you as one of Britain’s largest employers to urge you and your board to adopt a Living Wage, which will benefit both your employees and your business.

The Living Wage is the term used to describe the minimum hourly pay necessary for an individual’s adequate housing, food and other basic needs. A methodology devised by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation calculated the national average rate as currently at £7.60 an hour.

In 2001, a campaign was launched by the community alliance London Citizens to encourage employers to exceed the current statutory minimum wage in favour of the Living Wage. To date, 8,000 low-paid families have benefited from the success of this campaign and the subsequent implementation of the Living Wage across numerous successful businesses. Those businesses have also taken on the responsibility of ensuring their procurement service workers – such as contracted cleaning, catering and security staff – also have the opportunity to earn a wage that covers all their basic living needs.

Many leading employers have found the benefits of adopting a Living Wage compelling, both for their staff and their businesses. KPMG, Barclays and others have already taken a lead on implementing the initiative, and have cited immediate benefits, including reduced turnover of staff, lower absenteeism, higher productivity and increased staff morale.

In order to further promote the principle of a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work, and increased productivity in our economy, I am conducting the enclosed survey of leading businesses, and I hope to publish the results in September.

I would therefore be very grateful if you would take the time to complete the short survey, and return it to me at the address above. I will of course share the findings with you.

Thank you in advance for your responses, and I look forward to working with you.

Yours sincerely,

Ed Miliband

Living Wage Questionnaire:

1. Were you aware of the Living Wage and the Living Wage campaign before I contacted you?
2. Is your business currently a Living Wage employer?
3. Does your business intend to become a Living Wage employer in the future?
4. What steps, if any, has your company taken to explore the adoption of a living wage?
5. Would you like to receive more information on the case for adopting a Living Wage, or be put in contact with a current Living Wage employer?