Results are in!

So it's Len McCluskey. I would say it's a great result that the fat cat's anointed successor did not win. Time will tell what approach the new Unite General Secretary to the growing gap in wages and wage ratios in particular.

This stage of this campaign is now closed, and many thanks to all the supporters and campaigners over the last months.

Laura

Hurrah!

The High Pay Commission is go!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/nov/09/executive-pay-inquiry-launched?CMP=twt_gu

Good on the Joseph Rowntree charitable trust.

Candidate response 2: Gail Cartmel

Gail Cartmel, the one woman candidate in the Unite General Secretary election has responded to the Just Wage Campaign in her blog and has contacted us. Here is what she has said to us:

I agree that the 1:10 Just Wage Campaign ratio although 'achievable' and an improvement on the government's suggested 1;20 is still too high.

A just wage ratio for Unite is an idea I support, whether this is 1:5 would need to be discussed with the union's workforce TU representatives. This is a challenging debate I welcome and would open interesting discussions about other aspects of the union's pay and rewards policy.

A politican's answer but broadly positive. Two candidates to go...

The blog post is here:
http://www.gailcartmail.com/2010/10/wage-ratio-campaign.html

Candidate response 1: Jerry Hicks

Unite General Secretary candidate Jerry Hicks was the first to respond to the call from the Just Wage Campaign and was supportive. Mr. Hicks has contacted us and when his written response comes through it will be posted here. As many members may know, he has a previous commitment to an even fairer wage than 1:5 - as his campaign literature says, If elected Jerry Hicks would only take the average wage of a skilled worker.

We wonder if any other candidate will top this?

You can read more at his campaign website http://www.jerryhicks4gs.com/

Campaign is GO!

Our friends at One Society have made live the e-postcard that Unite members can send to the General Secretary candidates.

The candidates' responses will be posted in this blog. You can read more about them here:
http://www.unitetheunion.org/about_us/unite_2010_gs_election.aspx


Contact the candidates using the e-form here.

What is it worth?

Next month Radio 4 will run a series of programmes about pay and in preparation they have this bafflingly simplistic survey online: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/pay/

My background is in sociology and this survey makes my jaw ache. How can one say what a profession 'should earn' in a total vacuum? Is that a Personal Assistant in London or somewhere much cheaper to live? A Retail Cashier at Tesco or an independent shop? Does the income of the Premiership Footballer include all their sponsorship deals? The 'should' is presented as simply a comparison exercise with the other professions and yet we aren't given the option of ranking them in terms of mental, personal or physical effort or effects of the work, difficulty of access to the profession, impact on other people's lives or livelihoods... The comparison is presented in such a way that seems to imply that some jobs may deserve a salary as low as £10k - a salary that can scarcely be lived on in this country much less in London, much less without recourse to benefits & tax credits. Are we expected to think of the Train Driver etc. as a lone individual and not take into account the fact that most people also have families to support, or may want a mortgage - something unattainable on the average income in this country?

I dread to think what generalisations the programme makers intend to arrive at when they examine the completely inadequate results that can be got from a survey like this one.

Check where your wage fits in

The Institute of Fiscal Studies has a tool online that tells you where your income falls in comparison with the rest of the country.
When you think about your income, do you feel rich, poor, or just plain average?