Glasgow City Council, Scotland’s biggest local authority, has announced a new minimum wage for its employees of £7 an hour.
Known as the Glasgow Living Wage, this will be the guaranteed minimum for all Glasgow City Council employees, and will increase the basic salary of the lowest paid workers by over £1,100 a year.
The council currently employs 681 members of staff for less than £7 an hour.
The council will also encourage its suppliers to implement a living wage for staff who work on council business.
Speaking at yesterday’s Scottish Labour Party conference, council leader Steven Purcell said: “It is absolutely unacceptable that almost one in five of Glasgow’s workers are paid less than £7 an hour, and the Glasgow Living Wage has the potential to make a huge difference to thousands of families across the city.
“Through our procurement policy, we will work with employers in the public, private and voluntary sectors to encourage them to pay low-paid workers a decent wage, potentially affecting up to 80,000 people.”
A living wage is defined as the level of income needed to provide an acceptable standard of living in the UK, including good health, adequate child development and social inclusion.
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The first such in the UK was established in London in 2005, and subsequently increased in 2008.
Glasgow City Council is the first Scottish local authority to set up a minimum a living wage.
