At the Trades Union Congress 2002 on Tuesday, General Secretary John Monks announced a General Council proposal to call for an significant increase in the National Minimum Wage.
The TUC General Council has called for an increase to between £5 and £5.30 an hour by October 2004. The minimum wage, currently £4.10, is due to rise to £4.20 next month. The Council also demanded that the minimum wage be ‘rigorously promoted, monitored and enforced’, although John Monks acknowledged that the majority of companies had complied with the legislation.
In support of the increase, John Monks stated that more than a million people had benefitted from a wages increase when the National Minimum Wage was first introduced, and that there had been no job losses in the sectors primarily affected.
Congress also called for an end to ‘discriminatory treatment of young workers’. Monks questioned; “How can anyone believe it is right that if you are 18 you should not get the same pay as people doing the same job alongside you who are aged 30, 40 or 50? It is not right; it is discriminatory. I think it sends an initial unfairness message to young people and it is wrong.”
He concluded by urging union representatives to push towards an increase to £6 for the Minimum Wage.
