£15 UK minimum wage may not be the best way to tackle poverty

Analysis: experts say it may be better to bear down on zero-hours contracts to ensure more reliable work patterns

Labour members on Tuesday backed a £15-an-hour minimum wage at their annual party conference in Brighton. Although the vote was not binding and the policy is unlikely to be adopted by Keir Starmer, it has kicked off a debate over whether the legal pay floor should rise, or whether an increase would drive up unemployment as the economy emerges from the coronavirus pandemic.

Who suggested the figure is not clear, but it does echo the “fight for $15” campaign of US activists, a sum that McDonald’s workers in Britain have said should be paid in sterling. Their campaign, backed by the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union, was touted on a banner that Keir Starmer was pictured standing near two years ago. The motion passed at conference on Tuesday was tabled by the GMB union. Starmer has pledged a £10 minimum wage, the same as in the 2019 Labour manifesto and still lobbied for by the TUC.

Continue reading...

from The Guardian https://ift.tt/3AUpeWG