15 May 2014
North West Green Party European elections candidate, Laura Bannister, and a group of organisations in Manchester have today sent open letters to councils across Greater Manchester, urging them to pay more equal wages to their workers and to ensure they pay a Living Wage to all council workers and contractors.
The letters, drafted by Green Party MEP hopeful Laura Bannister and based on a new report* by Steady State Manchester and Equality North West, points out the pay ratio of each council. In some councils the highest earner is paid over eight times the salary of the average council worker, putting them in the top 1% of UK earners.
While commending the councils for taking steps towards paying living wages, the letters urge the councils to ensure that people working for companies contracted to the councils are paid the official Living Wage. This could mean significant pay rises for care workers, cleaners, leisure centre staff and many others across each borough.
Ben Irvine, author of the report In Place of Pay Inequality, said, “Inequality in Britain is now at levels last seen in the 1930's. By asking councils to commit to limits on their pay gaps and requiring similar commitments and Living Wages from private companies that do business with them, councils can take steps towards a fairer and more viable economy that works for the many, not just the few.”
Tom Skinner from the Greater Manchester Living Wage Campaign agreed, “Progress is being made by councils on raising wages for their lowest paid workers, but there is still more to do. We hope this letter will encourage the councils to take further action.”
Laura Bannister from Manchester Green Party added, “The councils need to do more to ensure that people are paid decent wages. Big pay disparities are unfair – the money used to pay six-figure salaries would be better spent on local jobs and services.”
Letters, and copies of the report, are being sent to all Greater Manchester councils, to encourage action across the wider city area. The letters and a summary of responses from local councils will be published in local newspapers and on the organisations’ websites.
Letters have been sent to the following councils: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan.
A letter will be sent to Manchester City Council later in the month.
* In Place of Pay Inequality: How local authority pay policies can help make Greater Manchester more equal and sustainable, and why it matters, a joint report by Steady State Manchester and Equality North West, March 2014
An example of one of the open letters is below:
15th May 2014
Dear Councillor Sean Anstee, Trafford Council Leader,
A recent report* has highlighted the issue of pay inequality. We are writing this open letter to ask about your plans to reduce pay inequality, by committing to reduce or maintain the council’s pay multiple, making companies which are awarded council contracts accountable for pay gaps and by ensuring that all workers are paid the Living Wage.
The report notes that, “Reducing pay inequality and raising lower incomes not only alleviates hardship, it has the potential to create jobs and to invigorate more virtuous local economies through increased local re-spend, whilst bringing us closer to living well within ecological limits.”
Eight out of ten of Greater Manchester councils’ highest earners are in the top 1% of British earners. The pay multiple at Trafford Council is currently 8.3, making it the second most unequal council in Greater Manchester. There is significant potential here for your council to contribute to local equality and prosperity by sharing taxpayers’ money more evenly among the council’s workforce, especially by increasing the wages of your lowest paid staff.
It is encouraging to see that Trafford Council has introduced its own Living Wage – however, this currently falls short of the official Living Wage rate. Your council also has, at present, no procedure for securing the Living Wage for outsourced workers and those in the council’s supply chains, which is required to become an accredited Living Wage employer.
We would be grateful to hear what plans your council has to improve pay equality. Firstly, do you have any intention of setting a limit to the pay multiple between top-earners and those on average salaries and making companies which provide council services accountable for pay gaps? Secondly, do you plan to implement the Living Wage and become an accredited employer?
We look forward to hearing from you. Please note that we intend to publish a summary of responses in local media.
Yours sincerely,
Steady State Manchester (Benjamin Irvine)
Equality North West (Philip Duval)
Trafford Green Party (Nigel Woodcock)
Greater Manchester Living Wage Campaign (Tom Skinner)
National Community Activists Network (Joe Taylor)
Manchester Alliance for Community Care (Mike Wild)
GMB North West and Irish Region (Kevin Flanagan)
St Antony's Centre for Church and Industry (Kevin Flanagan)
A number of Greater Manchester residents have also expressed their support.
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