Agenda item

This Council believes that everyone should be paid the Real Living Wage and is proud to be leading the way by paying its employees the Real Living Wage since 2015.Council notes that the Government has so far failed to ensure the National Living Wage matches the Real Living Wage and so accurately reflects rising living costs.

 

Council further notes with regret that a worker earning the National Living Wage would today earn £1,930 a year less than a worker earning the Real Living Wage.

 

Council recognises the devastating impact of Covid-19 on many people’s lives including pushing many more into poverty and job uncertainty and supports the establishment of a Fair Work Charter as proposed by the West Yorkshire Mayor.

 

Council believes that Leeds is ideally placed as a desirable location for businesses and recognises the success of attracting businesses such as Channel 4, Utterberry, Covance/Labcorp, Snowflake, Aspire, and Burberry into the City.

 

Council is proud that its Employment Agenda is in alignment with the Great Jobs Agenda as we continue to be a key influencer in terms of good employment practice which includes our condemnation of the ‘fire and re-hire’ practices undertaken by some companies.

 

Council commits to promoting both the Real Living Wage and the Great Jobs Agenda across the City through our Anchor Institutions who form an integral part of the ambition to make Leeds a Real Living Wage City as this is something that can only be achieved through partnership working across all sectors. Council notes the Leeds Anchors Network contains 13 organisations who employ over 58,000 people in Leeds, and is made up of: Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds City College, Leeds and York Partnership Foundation NHS Trust, University of Leeds, Leeds College of Building, Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust, Leeds Trinity University, Leeds City Council, NHS Digital, Yorkshire Water, British Library and Northern Gas Networks.

 

Council calls on Government to:

·  Introduce the Real Living Wage as a replacement to the National Living Wage to ensure residents of Leeds and across the Country can meet rising living costs.

·  Commit to the principles of the Great Jobs Agenda

·  Support the establishment of a Fair Work Charter.

 

It was moved by Councillor Pryor, seconded by Councillor Brooks that this Council believes that everyone should be paid the Real Living Wage and is proud to be leading the way by paying its employees the Real Living Wage since 2015.Council notes that the Government has so far failed to ensure the National Living Wage matches the Real Living Wage and so accurately reflects rising living costs.

 

Council further notes with regret that a worker earning the National Living Wage would today earn £1,930 a year less than a worker earning the Real Living Wage.

 

Council recognises the devastating impact of Covid-19 on many people’s lives including pushing many more into poverty and job uncertainty and supports the establishment of a Fair Work Charter as proposed by the West Yorkshire Mayor.

 

Council believes that Leeds is ideally placed as a desirable location for businesses and recognises the success of attracting businesses such as Channel 4, Utterberry, Covance/Labcorp, Snowflake, Aspire, and Burberry into the City.

 

Council is proud that its Employment Agenda is in alignment with the Great Jobs Agenda as we continue to be a key influencer in terms of good employment practice which includes our condemnation of the ‘fire and re-hire’ practices undertaken by some companies.

 

Council commits to promoting both the Real Living Wage and the Great Jobs Agenda across the City through our Anchor Institutions who form an integral part of the ambition to make Leeds a Real Living Wage City as this is something that can only be achieved through partnership working across all sectors. Council notes the Leeds Anchors Network contains 13 organisations who employ over 58,000 people in Leeds, and is made up of: Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds City College, Leeds and York Partnership Foundation NHS Trust, University of Leeds, Leeds College of Building, Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust, Leeds Trinity University, Leeds City Council, NHS Digital, Yorkshire Water, British Library and Northern Gas Networks.

 

Council calls on Government to:

·  Introduce the Real Living Wage as a replacement to the National Living Wage to ensure residents of Leeds and across the Country can meet rising living costs.

·  Commit to the principles of the Great Jobs Agenda

·  Support the establishment of a Fair Work Charter.

 

 

An amendment was moved by Councillor Golton, seconded by Councillor Campbell

 

In paragraph 5, delete the words ‘as we continue to be’ and replace with however we are concerned that our inconsistent commitment is affecting our credibility in portraying the Council as.

 

Add an additional sentence at the end of paragraph 5:

This was most famously evidenced through our support for the GMB campaign for better workers’ rights at Amazon, whilst at the same time enabling those business practices by hosting that business in Council owned buildings for several years.

 

Add a further paragraph at the end of the motion:

This Council further commits to publishing an Ethical Landlord Policy to ensure that companies trading under our roof are also fulfilling the above commitments to the Real Living Wage, The Great Jobs Agenda, and the Fair Work Charter.

 

The Amended White Paper would then read:

 

This Council believes that everyone should be paid the Real Living Wage and is proud to be leading the way by paying its employees the Real Living Wage since 2015.Council notes that the Government has so far failed to ensure the National Living Wage matches the Real Living Wage and so accurately reflects rising living costs.

 

Council further notes with regret that a worker earning the National Living Wage would today earn £1,930 a year less than a worker earning the Real Living Wage.

 

Council recognises the devastating impact of Covid-19 on many people’s lives including pushing many more into poverty and job uncertainty and supports the establishment of a Fair Work Charter as proposed by the West Yorkshire Mayor.

 

Council believes that Leeds is ideally placed as a desirable location for businesses and recognises the success of attracting businesses such as Channel 4, Utterberry, Covance/Labcorp, Snowflake, Aspire, and Burberry into the City.

 

Council is proud that its Employment Agenda is in alignment with the Great Jobs Agenda however we are concerned that our inconsistent commitment is affecting our credibility in portraying the Council as a key influencer in terms of good employment practice which includes our condemnation of the ‘fire and re-hire’ practices undertaken by some companies.  This was most famously evidenced through our support for the GMB campaign for better workers’ rights at Amazon, whilst at the same time enabling those business practices by hosting that business in Council owned buildings for several years.

 

Council commits to promoting both the Real Living Wage and the Great Jobs Agenda across the City through our Anchor Institutions who form an integral part of the ambition to make Leeds a Real Living Wage City as this is something that can only be achieved through partnership working across all sectors. Council notes the Leeds Anchors Network contains 13 organisations who employ over 58,000 people in Leeds, and is made up of: Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds City College, Leeds and York Partnership Foundation NHS Trust, University of Leeds, Leeds College of Building, Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust, Leeds Trinity University, Leeds City Council, NHS Digital, Yorkshire Water, British Library and Northern Gas Networks.

 

Council calls on Government to:

• Introduce the Real Living Wage as a replacement to the National Living Wage to ensure residents of Leeds and across the Country can meet rising living costs.
• Commit to the principles of the Great Jobs Agenda
• Support the establishment of a Fair Work Charter.

 

This Council further commits to publishing an Ethical Landlord Policy to ensure that companies trading under our roof are also fulfilling the above commitments to the Real Living Wage, The Great Jobs Agenda, and the Fair Work Charter.

 

A second amendment was moved by Councillor Cohen, seconded by Councillor Stephenson

 

Delete all after “This Council” and replace with:

 

welcomes the efforts of the government to help the low-paid through the National Living Wage. According to the Institute of Fiscal Studies, in its first 4 years the NLW led to an increase in the ‘bite’ of the minimum wage (defined as its level as a fraction of the median wage) for those aged 25+ that was greater than the increase over the whole 16-year period prior to that, since the national minimum wage was introduced in 1999, bringing the UK close to the international frontier of minimum wage levels.

 

Council notes that the NLW rates are decided each year based on the recommendations of an independent advisory group, the Low Pay Commission, which looks at a range of factors including the state of the economy, how many people are in work, and how much people are paying for essentials such as food and housing.

 

In Leeds the Conservative Group has a track record of supporting progress on minimum wage levels, proposing a budget amendment in 2013 that would have seen the Council introduce the living wage for its staff, an amendment which was unfortunately not supported by the ruling administration at that time.

 

Council recognises the devastating impact of Covid-19 on many people’s lives, and welcomes the unprecedented amount of financial support provided to help families cope through this period. However moving forward Council also supports the government in its efforts to keep the economy open in order to ensure people can continue to earn a living, in contrast to suggestions from some quarters that the country should go back into lockdown.

 

Council believes that Leeds is ideally placed as a desirable location for businesses and recognises the success of attracting businesses such as Channel 4, Utterberry, Covance/Labcorp, Snowflake, Aspire, and Burberry into the City. Council resolves to continue to work with the Anchor Institutions and partners to make Leeds an even more attractive place to live, work, and run a business.

 

The amendments in the name of Councillor Golton and Councillor Cohen were declared lost and upon being put to the vote it was

 

RESOLVED – That this Council believes that everyone should be paid the Real Living Wage and is proud to be leading the way by paying its employees the Real Living Wage since 2015.Council notes that the Government has so far failed to ensure the National Living Wage matches the Real Living Wage and so accurately reflects rising living costs.

 

Council further notes with regret that a worker earning the National Living Wage would today earn £1,930 a year less than a worker earning the Real Living Wage.

 

Council recognises the devastating impact of Covid-19 on many people’s lives including pushing many more into poverty and job uncertainty and supports the establishment of a Fair Work Charter as proposed by the West Yorkshire Mayor.

 

Council believes that Leeds is ideally placed as a desirable location for businesses and recognises the success of attracting businesses such as Channel 4, Utterberry, Covance/Labcorp, Snowflake, Aspire, and Burberry into the City.

 

Council is proud that its Employment Agenda is in alignment with the Great Jobs Agenda as we continue to be a key influencer in terms of good employment practice which includes our condemnation of the ‘fire and re-hire’ practices undertaken by some companies.

 

Council commits to promoting both the Real Living Wage and the Great Jobs Agenda across the City through our Anchor Institutions who form an integral part of the ambition to make Leeds a Real Living Wage City as this is something that can only be achieved through partnership working across all sectors. Council notes the Leeds Anchors Network contains 13 organisations who employ over 58,000 people in Leeds, and is made up of: Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds City College, Leeds and York Partnership Foundation NHS Trust, University of Leeds, Leeds College of Building, Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust, Leeds Trinity University, Leeds City Council, NHS Digital, Yorkshire Water, British Library and Northern Gas Networks.

 

Council calls on Government to:

·  Introduce the Real Living Wage as a replacement to the National Living Wage to ensure residents of Leeds and across the Country can meet rising living costs.

·  Commit to the principles of the Great Jobs Agenda

·  Support the establishment of a Fair Work Charter.

 

 

On the requisition of Councillors Lennox and Pryor the voting on the motion in the name of Councillor Pryor was recorded as follows;

 

YES – 55

 

Akhtar, Almass, A Blackburn, D Blackburn, Brooks, Burke, Carlill, Charlwood, Coupar, Cunningham, Dowson, Dye, Field, Flint, Forsaith, Gabriel, Garthwaite, Gibson, Goddard, P Grahame, R Grahame, Groves, C Gruen, Hamilton, Harland, Hayden, Heselwood, A Hussain, Z Hussain, Illingworth, Iqbal, Jenkins, Lennox, Lewis, Maqsood, Marshall-Katung, Martin, McCormack. McKenna, Midgley, Mulherin, Nash, Pryor, Rafique, Ragan, Renshaw, Ritchie, Scopes, Shahzad, Sharpe, E Taylor, Truswell, Venner, Walshaw and Wray.

 

NO – 0

 

ABSTAIN - 4

 

Dobson, Finnigan, Gettings and Senior