TUC calls for minimum wage hike

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has called on the government to raise the minimum wage and will outline its proposals when it meets with the Low Pay Commission (LPC) next week, it has been revealed.

Representatives from the organisation – which believes the adult minimum wage should be increased by 21p to £6.14 per hour – will discuss the plan with the LPC on Monday (November 1st 2010).

"A rise in the minimum wage is needed to ensure that working families are not left in poverty," said TUC secretary general Brendan Barber. "It would certainly not be fair to make the low paid suffer real cuts in their pay when there is no economic necessity."

He claimed that a majority of businesses could afford to fund the hike and pointed out that the minimum wage must keep pace with the projected 2011 inflation rate of 3.5 per cent.

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Last month, the Institute of Directors expressed concern at Labour leader Ed Miliband's backing of an increased living wage for low-paid workers.

Posted by Hayley Edwards