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/
Sunday, 24 October 2010
Monday, 18 October 2010
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.
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.
Wednesday, 25 August 2010
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.
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.
Monday, 9 August 2010
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?
When you think about your income, do you feel rich, poor, or just plain average?
Tuesday, 13 July 2010
Just Wage - Campaign Supporters
http://www.onesociety.org.uk/
http://www.independentaction.net/
more to come...
If you want your organisation here, just drop me a line at just.wage AT googlemail DOT com
http://www.independentaction.net/
more to come...
If you want your organisation here, just drop me a line at just.wage AT googlemail DOT com
Saturday, 12 June 2010
Compass Conference
Had a good time at the Compass Annual Conference A New Hope. One Society invited me to speak at a panel named after the campaign along with Bill Kerry from the Equality Trust, Bronwyn McKenna from Unison and MP Karen Buck. I'll think there's an audio recording of the panel knocking around somewhere that I'll put up if I get it.
Wednesday, 9 June 2010
A Postman Writes...
I would have to work for nearly 380 years to earn as much as Adam Crozier earned last year.
http://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2010/06/08/roy-mayall/best-management-talent/
http://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2010/06/08/roy-mayall/best-management-talent/
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