UNISON is the largest public sector union in the UK, representing 1.3 million memebers.

We think that the only way of reducing pay inequality is for the national minimum wage to be £10 NOW

UNISON and its predecessors were among the first organisations in the country to support the Living Wage.

There are over 1,300 employers accredited as living wage employers by the Living Wage Foundation. The Scotland government has established the living wage within all its public sector organisations.

Many UNISON service groups and regions have launched living wage campaigns, and included the living wage as a minimum rate in pay claims.

However there is a pay crisis in the United Kingdom and UNISON South East Regional Council has called on a campaign for a national minimumn wage of £10.

The issue

In July 2015, the Living Wage Campaign was complicated by the Government’s introduction of a ‘national living wage’ from April 2016 for workers age 25 and over. This living wage is not the same as that of the Living Wage Foundation, nor is the rate the same. In fact it is merely a relabelling of the national minimum wage and raises the rate for a section of the UK workforce.

An increase in the minimum wage is welcomed, but we think that the only way of reducing pay inequality is for the national minimum wage to be £10 NOW!