Day: January 4, 2015

Call to employers: make the living wage your New Year resolution

Campaigners are calling for employers in Scotland to commit to paying the living wage in 2015.

More than 30 Scottish employers signed up to become become accredited Living Wage Employers last month, meaning that all their staff will now be at least £7.85 an hour.

There are now 94 Living Wage Employers in Scotland. Of the 32 new organisations that have joined the accreditation scheme 70% had less than 50 employees and 38% had less than 10 employees. The majority of the newly accredited organisations are private sector companies.

Peter Kelly, Director of the Poverty Alliance, who host the Scottish Living Wage Accreditation Initiative said: “We have seen a significant increase in enquiries from employers about Living Wage accreditation since Living Wage Week at the start of November, when we reported that the number of Living Wage Employers in Scotland had tripled to 60. Since then, an additional 32 Scottish employers have gone on to become accredited, including Digby Brown law firm, Heart of Midlothian football club and An Clachan Café in Glasgow.

“This is great news, especially for those workers that get a pay rise as a result. It is clear that in-work poverty will remain a real problem for thousands of workers in Scotland in 2015, but if more employers commit to paying the living wage we can begin to make a real impact.

“We are here to help and advise employers who wish to be recognized for paying the living wage. We have been overwhelmed by the response from Scottish employers in the last few weeks and look forward to working with many more in 2015. The living wage is a key way of ensuring that more workers have a prosperous New Year.”

Graham Bell, Managing Director of Glasgow-based retailer Guitar, Guitar who also have shops in Edinburgh and Newcastle said: “Our staff are our greatest asset, and the backbone of our company. By moving onto a living wage, we are solidifying our commitment to the well-being of our employees, their families and the future of our local community. It is a move we’re very proud of.”

Newly accredited Strata Cleaning are the first cleaning firm in Scotland to become Living Wage Employers. The company’s Director, Steven Homer, said: “We made a strategic decision at the formation of the business that it would stand out from the majority of cleaning companies by committing to our staff to adopt the Living Wage threshold for all staff employed by us.

“Within the cleaning sector it is common practice for many staff to be paid at the National Minimum Wage. Our business strategy is to provide a specialist cleaning service where our product knowledge, operating skills and a high level of customer service are paramount. We believe that a part of creating this culture within our business from the very outset is to recognise that it is our staff who are the main customer facing element of our business.

“Our many years of experience teaches us that staff who feel they are correctly rewarded will be much more positive and go that extra step in meeting our customer needs. We believe that long term this will be a major business benefit rather than a cost to us.”

Graeme Thomson, a member of staff at Timber Company Group in Dumfries, is directly affected by his employers’ decision to implement the living wage. He said: “I have recently started working with DTCG and already I feel like a valued member of staff. I was recently informed that DTCG have become a living wage employer, consequently this directly affected myself, making a positive contribution to my salary.

“As expected this has been hugely beneficial. At present I am currently saving for a deposit to take my first step on the property ladder. The increase in my wage makes living month to month that little bit easier whilst saving a large portion of my monthly wage. Working for this increased and fairer wage will make a huge difference to me and many others who will now feel more valued at work and encourage working harder.

“Since joining the company I have been encouraged through continuous development to both learn through further education and hands on work experience to better myself and add to my skill set. Moving to a living wage employer is another reason why I feel privileged to have found employment with the Dumfries Timber Company Group”

Colin Cameron , Operations Director, Dumfries Timber Company said: “We firmly believe that signing up to the Living Wage will only benefit the company. By treating your staff with respect, of which paying the Living Wage is only a part, you get a more contented and motivated staff.

“Respect is always a two way thing, and is extremely beneficial to both sides. Low wages was one of the factors that led to the formation of Dumfries Timber Company. Previously, we worked for one of the large national companies and we were constantly frustrated with the wage structure they had in place. When we started Dumfries Timber Company 7 years ago, the members of staff who joined us were immediately paid more than they were before.

“By signing up to the Living Wage, there are added benefits to our Company such as low staff turnover. We believe that, if you treat your staff with respect in other areas as well as salary, there will be an increased awareness of our company.
Signing up to the Living Wage scheme, will also bring benefits when we are looking to recruit new staff.”

The 32 Living Wage Employers who have become accredited in the past month are:

• Aberdeen YMCA
• The Social Enterprise Academy
• Ypeople
• Harper Macleod LLP
• Cutting Edge Engineering Ltd
• Scotwest Credit Union Ltd
• Conveyancing Direct
• Scottish Out of School Care Network
• Gavin Watson Ltd
• Lift Control Ltd
• Digby Brown LLP
• Dumfries Timber Company Ltd
• Energy Action Scotland
• Heart of Midlothian PLC
• ITC Training Academy
• Strata Cleaning Limited
• Animac Vets Ltd
• Muehlhan Surface Protection Limited
• Third Sector Dumfries and Galloway
• Saltire Roofing and Building Ltd
• Scottish Parliament
• An Clachan Cafe
• Scottish Youth Parliament
• Crannoch Residential Child Care Resource Ltd.
• Village Vets
• GuitarGuitar
• Neil Findlay MSP
• The Spark
• Nutrend Office Furniture
• Trade Right International CIC
• teclan ltd Digital Marketing
• The Royal Bank of Scotland

A full list of all Scottish Living Wage Employers is available at: 

Letter: bearing the burden

Dear Editor

When Chancellor Osborne made his autumn statement  I believe he did his best to confuse most people with his ‘percentages of this and percentages of that’ but he did make one thing perfectly clear: the cost of closing the deficit will continue to be passed on to the working population by cutting public services and benefits, holding down wages below inflation and telling people to work harder and longer.

THe crisis we are in was cused by financial institutions, speculators and banks worldwide, but of course the blame is put on to others: stories are being repeated over and over again to get people to accept them as truths. First the Labour government was to blame, then it was the scroungers, the work-shy, the disabled, people living longer, families having one bedroom too many – all of these stories designed to set once section of society against another, enabling crippling policies to be imposed on all whilst constantly repeating: ‘it’s the only way’, ‘it is in the national interest’ and ‘we are all in this together’.

It is the classic Tory approach of divide and rule, enabling them to impose drastic cuts on 90% of the population; I say 90% because the top wealthy 10% are not affected or bothered.

If money was borrowed creating a deficit that has to be repaid, from whom was it borrowed? At what interest rate was it borrowed? Was it at a fixed rate or was money lenders’ method used? We need to know, but whatever the answers there is no need to inflict such damage on people’s lives – with promises of more to come.

The 90% of the population didn’t create the problem but are being made to bear the burden.

A. Delahoy

Silverknowes Gardens

 

Soapbox: Revolution – or evolution of delusion?

So Russell Brand’s no longer just a comedian, he’s a campaigner. But like him or loathe him at least he makes you think, argues Broughton High School student ROSS COWPER: 

revolution

Over the past year Russell Brand has become some sort of liberating Jesus for some younger people in particular.

Born 1975 in Gray’s Essex, Russell Brand decided from a relatively early age that to get out of the run down place he lived, he would have to ‘better’ himself by becoming rich, famous or even both.

Russel got his wish by presenting for MTV, but it was his excessive drug use that kept giving him problems in the infancy of his career. In 2008 he resigned from the BBC for a prank call to Andrew Sachs; soon most people were not taking him seriously, and it was’t because of his comedic status.

Over the last year, following his guest editing for the New Statesman, Russell took to a new step in his career and life. He’s changed his opinions: either because he is in a better circumstances, or genuinely thinks that money and fame is not the way out. Following a Jeremy Paxman interview on Newnight, Russell Brand’s words became viral overnight on Twitter.

Russell actively encouraged that, to bring about change, the British people should’t vote. He explained that there must be a “massive redistribution of wealth” and accused ‘big business’ as a major player in the world’s corrupt societies.

Since the release of his book on the 25 October, ‘Revolution’ has unquestionably came under fire from political commentators, reviewers and from some sections some of the public. In his book Russell Brand argues that politicians now have to bend over to the media 24/7, in an attempt to make sure they look desirable with indisputable charisma to become next in line to inherit the idiotic throne of what PM has become.

Over the last decade especially the position has been filled with awkward fake smiling ones, to who try appease the ‘great’ British public that Romanians are taking the biscuit now, and its time for the reclaiming of our land!

Now don’t get me wrong, there are some good politicians out there, but many TV voxpop interviews in town centres show people saying they think all politicians don’t do a good job, or any job for that matter – it seems almost a disease to think that one could actually help you.

It does appear that some at the Guardian, the Daily Mail and the Telegraph do not agree with what Russell says in his book: he has been questioned on his books content – or for the lack of it. It can also be said that many of these political commentators are from higher class backgrounds, and they do have pacts to keep with certain parties after all. So who could blame them, they do have a job to keep!

So with Russell Brand posing different questions, and to this higher classed level of politicians, he may not have the most expanded substance in certain chapters of his book, but he is making a considerable noise.

I think it is the challenging the social norm of the political business-minded elite that are frightened of (especially the commentators). This is precisely why there has been so much noise recently over the matter; not the ‘revolution’ as such, but potential talk of change for poorer people in Britain.

In my opinion the book does contain some fallacies, but it is about learning the horrid inequality and wrongly distribution power of wealth. If anyone can get that through to people by even having to use the word ‘revolution’, then they have done something most politicians can’t.

Britain may be a long way away from the uprising, and the discarding of a golden statue of David Cameron put up by taxpayers money but ripped from it’s foundations by the people. We may be waiting some time …

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