Employing low-paid workers described as "morally wrong"

Monday 20 June 2016

Pressure is growing in Jersey to bring in a 'living wage', despite strong opposition from both the hospitality and agriculture industries.

Local Catholic charity Caritas Jersey launched a campaign last week to get businesses committing to paying their staff £9.40 an hour - but that's too much for farming and hospitality bosses who say that paying out almost 35% more than the minimum wage could put some of them out of business.

The Living Wage was first introduced in East London 15 years ago to help parents who were working more than one job, had very little family time and were struggling to make ends meet.

Caritas Jersey believes introducing it here will enable people living in the Island, especially the poorest to live here with dignity and Deputies Andrew Lewis and Sam Mézec both support it.  At last week's launch they said they are in talks with the Council of Ministers who are interested in the States becoming a member of the Living Wage Foundation.

Speaking at the launch, Deputy Mézec said: "If we have a government which is committed to its principles as well then it should be going out into the wider society to the industries that are facing particular difficulties with their wage levels and say, right what are the obstacles that are stopping you from being able to pay a higher wage? Is it perhaps anti-competitive practices in an industry that government might be able to help you overcome? Is it arduous beaurocracy with your interaction with government that government could be able to make more efficient and easier to then enable you to do it? There are ways around it but the answer surely can't be to accept poverty wages as an inevitability in society.

"We commit to the principle of decent wages for everybody who is prepared to go out there and work hard. We are a talented society, Jersey has amazing expertise, brilliant businesses and great community leaders who if we come together with that commitment, we'll be able to find the policies to overcome those difficulties and be a society where everybody is treated with dignity and respect and paid the wages that they deserve for working hard."

The charity wants local businesses volunteering to sign up to paying the Living Wage and show their commitment as an ethical and responsible employer, making sure all their staff, even those outsourced by contractors are being paid a fair wage.

The hourly rate of £9.40 has been calculated by an independent economist at Loughborough University based on the cost of living here but doesn't include bonuses or the fact some bosses are providing board and lodgings for their staff, and farmers at the launch said they wouldn't be able to pay staff such a high wage when competitors elsewhere are paying significantly less with more subsidies.

But the Charity's Executive Director John Scally said it was "morally wrong" for our agriculture industry to survive on the back of low-paid workers.

Deputy Lewis said he hoped that the living wage would encourage more young people in Jersey to take up jobs currently being filled by immigrant workers.

Marina Mauger from NASUWT, the largest teachers' union in Jersey said it would have full trade union backing in the Channel Islands from now on.