People Before Profit Cllr Shaun Harkin said,
“We welcome the fact that Councillors and parties in Derry and Strabane Council unanimously supported our motion calling for the Stormont Executive to devolve the setting of minimum wage levels as agreed in New Decade New Approach.
Hundreds of thousands of people trapped in low-pay could benefit if the Executive devolved pay rates to set real living wages.
Nearly 400,000 across the North live below the poverty line according to the Expert Advisory Panel to Stormont’s anti-poverty strategy. This includes one in three children living in poverty. Any strategy that’s serious about tackling these unacceptable statistics must have increased pay as a central plank.
Many groups of workers are ahead of the Stormont Executive in demanding action for significant pay increases. This includes health workers, council and school based workers, civil servants, retail workers and Community and Voluntary sector workers. Hovis workers successfully went on strike to win an 8% pay increase over two years.
If the Stormont Executive is to act on wage rates and the many other progressive demands included in New Decade New Approach it will require people power pressure. Without this it’s clear the Executive will maintain the status quo of inequality and escalating poverty faced by all working class communities.”
