U.K.
Public services union UNISON has published its annual submission to the Low Pay Commission calling for the National Minimum Wage to be increased from the current £5.52 (€7.95) an hour to £6.75 (€9.70). The union also wants to see the lower rate for workers aged 18-22 to be abolished so that the adult rate applies from 18. A national minimum wage of £6.75 would be around 60% of average earnings based on the 2006 figure of £447 a week for a 40-hour week.
Read more at > UNISON (EN)
Former European Commission President Jacques Delors has called for a renewal of European social dialogue including negotiations over concrete demands such as a European minimum wage and strengthening of European works councils. Delors argues that the minimum wage should be set in line with each country's level of development. Delors is co-chair of a Party of European Socialists' (PES) initiative on a “New Social Europe”; a report on this will be presented to the PES congress in December. [Read more at > the Euractiv news service (EN)->http://www.euractiv.com/en/socialeurope/delors-sees-need-eu
Around 1,500 low-paid women workers are set to receive substantial pay increases and back pay after UNISON won an important legal victory. The women had been successful at an earlier tribunal but their employer, Cumbria County Council, appealed against the ruling. The women affected work mainly as care assistants, home carers, kitchen assistants, cooks and night care assistants. Read more at > UNISON (EN)
