GREEN WAGE PLAN WOULD BOOST STANDARD OF LIVING FOR SCOTS WORKERS
Scottish Greens will today (4 May) highlight how their plan for a £10 minimum wage by 2020 will boost the standard of living for Scots workers.
Someone working on the current minimum wage of £6.50 an hour can expect an annual salary of around £12,506. Under the Scottish Greens' plan that will rise to £19,240 by 2020.
Analysis by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation shows single working-age people must now earn more than £17,100 for an adequate standard of living, including food and transport.
Today Patrick Harvie MSP and Scottish Green MP candidate Zara Kitson visited a Glasgow restaurant that is a Living Wage employer to talk about the Greens' pledge on wages.
The Scottish Greens are standing in all seven Glasgow constituencies and the majority of Scotland's 59 Westminster seats, and are enjoying a membership surge with almost 9,000 members across Scotland.
Patrick Harvie MSP said:
"We're a wealthy nation and it's unacceptable that so many workers still struggle to make ends meet. Rather than allow big firms to pay poverty wages and expecting the state to top them up through the benefits system, we should start raising the Minimum Wage to a meaningful level to match the cost of living.
"Many firms already pay the Living Wage and we need to build on that. Small businesses deserve support and other Scottish Green policies to streamline regulation and tackle business rates would help level the playing field."
Zara Kitson, Scottish Green MP candidate for Glasgow North-east, said:
"In cities such as Glasgow we have an economy that isn't working for most people. In-work poverty is unacceptable and we need strong Green voices at Westminster to challenge the big companies getting away with paying people so poorly.
"I want to see a £10 minimum wage for all. At the moment apprentices are on a meagre £3 an hour - we surely value our young people much more than that?"