40,000 Bradford workers paid less than fair wage (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)
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A new report shows that 23 per cent of Bradfordians do not earn a living wage
11:00am Tuesday 30th October 2012 in Bradford
By Anika Bourley
New data shows that nearly a quarter of workers in the Bradford district are paid less than what is needed to keep up a basic standard of living
More than 40,000 workers in Bradford are paid less than the living wage, a report has shown.
It means 23 per cent of all workers are paid less than what is believed to be needed for a basic standard of living, compared to one in five nationally and 22 per cent across Yorkshire and Humber.
The living wage rate is £8.30 an hour in London and £7.20 in the rest of the UK. But unlike the minimum wage that employers must pay by law which is £6.19 per hour for over 21s, the living rate is voluntary.
A spokesman for UK debt counselling charity Christians Against Poverty, which has its headquarters in Bradford, said: “It is not that surprising to us that just under a quarter of working people in the Bradford district are not paid the living wage considering the well-documented pockets of poverty that exist here.
“However, when companies pay less than a fair wage, they open themselves up to the expense of employees absenteeism through stress-related sickness – especially when members of staff may be covering more bases than they did in more affluent times.
“About half of the debt clients we see across the UK are under the poverty line because when you don’t have much coming in, it doesn’t take a big event to throw a household’s finances into crisis. All of them receive a free and award-winning service which supports them until the day they are debt free.”
The figures come weeks after Holme Christian Community based in Holme Wood, one of Bradford’s largest social housing estates, reported it has seen demand at its food bank, the King’s Pantry, increase at an alarming rate over the past few months. It is feared the pressure on families to make ends meet will only get worse.
The KPMG research also comes ahead of next week’s Living Wage Week, and shows bar, restaurant, catering and retail staff are among the worst affected.
Labour’s Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury Rachel Reeves said: “As KPMG’s analysis highlights, paying workers enough to keep their families out of poverty and out of debt can provide the foundation for more productive businesses and a stronger and better balanced economy.
“That’s why Labour councils are leading the way in paying a living wage to their employees, and encouraging local businesses to do the same.
“But the Tories are going in the opposite direction, with provocative proposals for regional and local pay that would divide north against south, public sector against private, dedicated care workers against struggling small businesses.”
A Government spokesman said: “The Government is committed to the national minimum wage. It provides protection to low-paid workers and incentives to work. It is important that we have a minimum wage that helps as many low-paid workers as possible, while at the same time making sure that we do not damage their employment prospects by setting it too high.”
Comments(40)
Joedavid
says...
11:21am Tue 30 Oct 12
angry bradfordian
says...
11:44am Tue 30 Oct 12
Avro
says...
11:50am Tue 30 Oct 12
The shameful thing is that many high profile companies only pay the minimum wage to many of their staff, which is false economy in the long term.
This simply generates high staff turnover, employees that are not loyal to the company and have little or no commitment to the company.
Happy staff are more productive and reduce costs.
Sadly many companies fail to recognise this or dont care, and simply pay what they can get away with!
Thee Voice of Reason
says...
12:55pm Tue 30 Oct 12
Put a rule in and a big company will work round it to keep the profits high for their top brass.
allinittogether
says...
1:18pm Tue 30 Oct 12
Avro
says...
1:45pm Tue 30 Oct 12
Thee Voice of Reason wrote:If any company wants to run the risk of providing overseas crap customer support, then they get what they deserve....too many have had fingers burned and are starting to learn that quality cannot be bought on the cheap!
Increase the minimum wage and more jobs will be sent over to India etc, just like Morrisons recently did.
Put a rule in and a big company will work round it to keep the profits high for their top brass.
scottie dog
says...
2:43pm Tue 30 Oct 12
angry bradfordian wrote:As I remember it was labour that introduced the minimum wage which to my mind was not set high enough.
If Labour are bleating about the minimum wage not being high enough, why didn't they set it higher in their 13 years in power?
The Hoffster
says...
3:34pm Tue 30 Oct 12
What then ?
allinittogether
says...
4:12pm Tue 30 Oct 12
The Hoffster wrote:They've got a shoddy business model.
What if it's not affordable for companies to pay a certain minimum amount?
What then ?
ANY WHERE BUT HERE
says...
4:22pm Tue 30 Oct 12
Maybe if they wouldn't of let the millions of immigrants in, soaking the jobs market
England would be a better place.
But we will pretend that didn't happen eh Rachel.
The headline should of been Labours policies come to fruition.
Another Landless Peasant
says...
5:12pm Tue 30 Oct 12
ANY WHERE BUT HERE wrote:So the Tories are going to increase wages are they? No, thought not.
So (labour) Thinks we should get a living wage.
Maybe if they wouldn't of let the millions of immigrants in, soaking the jobs market
England would be a better place.
But we will pretend that didn't happen eh Rachel.
The headline should of been Labours policies come to fruition.
Another Landless Peasant
says...
5:13pm Tue 30 Oct 12
The Hoffster wrote:Then they go out of business, and good riddance to them.
What if it's not affordable for companies to pay a certain minimum amount?
What then ?
Another Landless Peasant
says...
5:13pm Tue 30 Oct 12
Albion. wrote:Why do you ask? Don't migrant workers also deserve a fair wage?
What percentage of this involves cheap imported labour?
Another Landless Peasant
says...
5:15pm Tue 30 Oct 12
scottie dog wrote:Nowhere near high enough. Even the quoted figure of a living wage at £7.20 per hour is still working for peanuts. The National Minimum Wage ought to be £10 per hour for everyone, regardless of job role.
angry bradfordian wrote:As I remember it was labour that introduced the minimum wage which to my mind was not set high enough.
If Labour are bleating about the minimum wage not being high enough, why didn't they set it higher in their 13 years in power?
Another Landless Peasant
says...
5:17pm Tue 30 Oct 12
Joedavid wrote:No, not all. Some are forced to work cash-in-hand to subsidize the pittance they receive in Benefits, which often means working for less than the Nat. Min. Wage.
Do all get the legal minium wage?
Another Landless Peasant
says...
5:19pm Tue 30 Oct 12
allinittogether wrote:Absolutely correct. The company owners/directors/sha
In other words the employers of these 40,000 staff are benefit scroungers as they know their staff will receive tax credits.
reholders are all Benefit-scrounging scum.
Another Landless Peasant
says...
5:21pm Tue 30 Oct 12
Minimum Wage = Minimum Work!
Albion.
says...
5:31pm Tue 30 Oct 12
Another Landless Peasant wrote:I was interested in what the answer might be.
Albion. wrote:Why do you ask? Don't migrant workers also deserve a fair wage?
What percentage of this involves cheap imported labour?
We often read that migrant workers are prepared to work for less money than locals.
Albion.
says...
5:34pm Tue 30 Oct 12
Another Landless Peasant wrote:And professional spongers like you should expect nothing.
A company that pays no more than the bare minimum amount of wage can only expect the bare minimum amount of work.
Minimum Wage = Minimum Work!
ANY WHERE BUT HERE
says...
5:34pm Tue 30 Oct 12
Another Landless Peasant wrote:Why would they? there's 50 people going for each rubbish job.( plantpot )
ANY WHERE BUT HERE wrote:So the Tories are going to increase wages are they? No, thought not.
So (labour) Thinks we should get a living wage.
Maybe if they wouldn't of let the millions of immigrants in, soaking the jobs market
England would be a better place.
But we will pretend that didn't happen eh Rachel.
The headline should of been Labours policies come to fruition.
Another Landless Peasant
says...
5:37pm Tue 30 Oct 12
ANY WHERE BUT HERE wrote:Well there's one here who isn't....
Another Landless Peasant wrote:Why would they? there's 50 people going for each rubbish job.( plantpot )
ANY WHERE BUT HERE wrote:So the Tories are going to increase wages are they? No, thought not.
So (labour) Thinks we should get a living wage.
Maybe if they wouldn't of let the millions of immigrants in, soaking the jobs market
England would be a better place.
But we will pretend that didn't happen eh Rachel.
The headline should of been Labours policies come to fruition.
ANY WHERE BUT HERE
says...
5:38pm Tue 30 Oct 12
ANY WHERE BUT HERE wrote:And i'm ukip
Another Landless Peasant wrote:Why would they? there's 50 people going for each rubbish job.( plantpot )
ANY WHERE BUT HERE wrote:So the Tories are going to increase wages are they? No, thought not.
So (labour) Thinks we should get a living wage.
Maybe if they wouldn't of let the millions of immigrants in, soaking the jobs market
England would be a better place.
But we will pretend that didn't happen eh Rachel.
The headline should of been Labours policies come to fruition.
Another Landless Peasant
says...
5:43pm Tue 30 Oct 12
Albion. wrote:Even immigrants must be paid at least the Nat. Min. Wage , though there are others who are beneath the radar who work for less, such as some previously homeless and alcoholic Chezcs I know of who are now working for a Bradford businessman in exchange for a grotty roof over their heads and £10 a day + chicken & chips.
Another Landless Peasant wrote:I was interested in what the answer might be.
Albion. wrote:Why do you ask? Don't migrant workers also deserve a fair wage?
What percentage of this involves cheap imported labour?
We often read that migrant workers are prepared to work for less money than locals.
Another Landless Peasant
says...
5:44pm Tue 30 Oct 12
ANY WHERE BUT HERE wrote:UKIP? LOL they're just failed Tories.
ANY WHERE BUT HERE wrote:And i'm ukip
Another Landless Peasant wrote:Why would they? there's 50 people going for each rubbish job.( plantpot )
ANY WHERE BUT HERE wrote:So the Tories are going to increase wages are they? No, thought not.
So (labour) Thinks we should get a living wage.
Maybe if they wouldn't of let the millions of immigrants in, soaking the jobs market
England would be a better place.
But we will pretend that didn't happen eh Rachel.
The headline should of been Labours policies come to fruition.
Another Landless Peasant
says...
5:48pm Tue 30 Oct 12
Albion. wrote:It is the bosses (and shareholders) of those companies that are "professional spongers", using State Benefits to subsidize their workers' wages.
Another Landless Peasant wrote:And professional spongers like you should expect nothing.
A company that pays no more than the bare minimum amount of wage can only expect the bare minimum amount of work.
Minimum Wage = Minimum Work!
I would advise anybody who is forced to apply for a Min. Wage job to make it clear at the interview that in exchange for minimum wage they are only prepared to do the minimum amount of work. That way you will be absolutely guaranteed not to get the job.
Albion.
says...
5:52pm Tue 30 Oct 12
Another Landless Peasant wrote:You deserve to have the same treatment as those poor Africans who walk 200 miles for a dish of porridge and some clean drinking water.
Albion. wrote:It is the bosses (and shareholders) of those companies that are "professional spongers", using State Benefits to subsidize their workers' wages.
Another Landless Peasant wrote:And professional spongers like you should expect nothing.
A company that pays no more than the bare minimum amount of wage can only expect the bare minimum amount of work.
Minimum Wage = Minimum Work!
I would advise anybody who is forced to apply for a Min. Wage job to make it clear at the interview that in exchange for minimum wage they are only prepared to do the minimum amount of work. That way you will be absolutely guaranteed not to get the job.
I see they have removed your straight jacket and released you again, how long for this time I wonder.
Another Landless Peasant
says...
5:59pm Tue 30 Oct 12
Albion. wrote:Thankfully I'm not quite in that awful position as I live in England, a country made great and wealthy by my ancestors.
Another Landless Peasant wrote:You deserve to have the same treatment as those poor Africans who walk 200 miles for a dish of porridge and some clean drinking water.
Albion. wrote:It is the bosses (and shareholders) of those companies that are "professional spongers", using State Benefits to subsidize their workers' wages.
Another Landless Peasant wrote:And professional spongers like you should expect nothing.
A company that pays no more than the bare minimum amount of wage can only expect the bare minimum amount of work.
Minimum Wage = Minimum Work!
I would advise anybody who is forced to apply for a Min. Wage job to make it clear at the interview that in exchange for minimum wage they are only prepared to do the minimum amount of work. That way you will be absolutely guaranteed not to get the job.
I see they have removed your straight jacket and released you again, how long for this time I wonder.
Another Landless Peasant
says...
6:00pm Tue 30 Oct 12
BD16
says...
6:15pm Tue 30 Oct 12
ANY WHERE BUT HERE wrote:Spot on there. Just one piece of anecdotal evidence for you. A friend worked on the olympic site in Stratford, He's English but it was made clear to them that they did not talk about money with any of the East European workers.
So (labour) Thinks we should get a living wage.
Maybe if they wouldn't of let the millions of immigrants in, soaking the jobs market
England would be a better place.
But we will pretend that didn't happen eh Rachel.
The headline should of been Labours policies come to fruition.
Labour shafted the working man in this country by allowing 400,000+ workers to come in and dilute the work force. I don't dislike the East Europeans but they should never have been allowed in en masse.
BD16
says...
6:16pm Tue 30 Oct 12
Another Landless Peasant wrote:Have you actually done a days work since the minimum wage was introduced? The 1st of April 1999 if you don't already know.
THE NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE IS SLAVE LABOUR ! ! !
angry bradfordian
says...
6:25pm Tue 30 Oct 12
Another Landless Peasant wrote:What a load of rubbish. People on the minimum wage pay negligible income tax anyway (something the ConDems have actually improved by raising the number of non tax payers)
Joedavid wrote:No, not all. Some are forced to work cash-in-hand to subsidize the pittance they receive in Benefits, which often means working for less than the Nat. Min. Wage.
Do all get the legal minium wage?
Perhaps there'd be more benefits for the really needy if people weren't working 'cash-in-hand'
RollandSmoke
says...
8:38pm Tue 30 Oct 12
Another Landless Peasant
says...
12:05am Wed 31 Oct 12
angry bradfordian wrote:It's the "really needy" that are forced to work cash-in-hand if they have no access to Benefits or the Benefits they have got are insufficient to live on. A man with no money will do a day's work for ten or twenty quid a day if it's offered and it means he can eat. Don't tell me you didn't know? That's how the micro-economy of Bradford has been operating for years, just like in India.
Another Landless Peasant wrote:What a load of rubbish. People on the minimum wage pay negligible income tax anyway (something the ConDems have actually improved by raising the number of non tax payers)
Joedavid wrote:No, not all. Some are forced to work cash-in-hand to subsidize the pittance they receive in Benefits, which often means working for less than the Nat. Min. Wage.
Do all get the legal minium wage?
Perhaps there'd be more benefits for the really needy if people weren't working 'cash-in-hand'
Another Landless Peasant
says...
12:07am Wed 31 Oct 12
BD16 wrote:I certainly have, but not for Min. Wage. though I didn't realize it was so long ago, my how the years fly......
Another Landless Peasant wrote:Have you actually done a days work since the minimum wage was introduced? The 1st of April 1999 if you don't already know.
THE NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE IS SLAVE LABOUR ! ! !
Another Landless Peasant
says...
12:10am Wed 31 Oct 12
BD16 wrote:"...they did not talk about money with any of the East European workers"
ANY WHERE BUT HERE wrote:Spot on there. Just one piece of anecdotal evidence for you. A friend worked on the olympic site in Stratford, He's English but it was made clear to them that they did not talk about money with any of the East European workers.
So (labour) Thinks we should get a living wage.
Maybe if they wouldn't of let the millions of immigrants in, soaking the jobs market
England would be a better place.
But we will pretend that didn't happen eh Rachel.
The headline should of been Labours policies come to fruition.
Labour shafted the working man in this country by allowing 400,000+ workers to come in and dilute the work force. I don't dislike the East Europeans but they should never have been allowed in en masse.
Why's that? Because the Europeans were being paid far less, and really they were the ones being "shafted"?
Another Landless Peasant
says...
12:22am Wed 31 Oct 12
DO NOT COMPLY
GET OUT ON STRIKE
WORK LESS, BUY LESS
JOIN A UNION
BOYCOTT WORKFARE
MINIMUM WAGE = MINIMUM WORK !!!!!!!!
Another Landless Peasant
says...
12:25am Wed 31 Oct 12
RollandSmoke wrote:Yes, Right-wing Tory nutcase Davies not only believes that the disabled should be forced back to work, but be made to work for nothing!
According to Philip Davis MP the Disabled who are being forced back into the job market should not deem themselves worthy of the minimum wage and should be able to offer their labour for less as should ex-prisoners regardless of what their crime may be. Fortunately the Disabled can vote these heartless swines out at the next election, although prisoners who's only crime may be to have gone against an outdated and scientifically unfounded government policy cannot.
It's like Charles Dickens never happened....
Another Landless Peasant
says...
12:28am Wed 31 Oct 12
BD16 wrote:P.S.
Another Landless Peasant wrote:Have you actually done a days work since the minimum wage was introduced? The 1st of April 1999 if you don't already know.
THE NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE IS SLAVE LABOUR ! ! !
I was earning more than the min. wage is worth over 20 years ago, I wouldn't get out of bed for that poxy sum now.
Albion.
says...
11:11am Wed 31 Oct 12
Another Landless Peasant wrote:Or for pretty much any other reason.
BD16 wrote:P.S.
Another Landless Peasant wrote:Have you actually done a days work since the minimum wage was introduced? The 1st of April 1999 if you don't already know.
THE NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE IS SLAVE LABOUR ! ! !
I was earning more than the min. wage is worth over 20 years ago, I wouldn't get out of bed for that poxy sum now.
Albion. says...
11:10am Tue 30 Oct 12