The Fair Work Convention Co Chairs Professor Patricia Findlay and Grahame Smith welcome the announcement from the Scottish Government on introducing a requirement to pay the real Living Wage to public contracts.
Commenting on the announcement, Professor Patricia Findlay said:
The Fair Work Convention welcomes today’s announcement from the Scottish Government. Low pay is one of the key drivers of in-work poverty. All too often we find that disabled workers, BME workers, young workers and women in particular face precarious and low paid work, so addressing very low pay in public contracts can begin to support better outcomes for these and other workers.
Pay is a crucial element of fair work, and for too long the obstacles to workers’ challenging and improving low pay in certain occupations and sectors have been considerable. Given this, government action to help address low pay is necessary to deliver fair work as well as to deliver on equality and anti-poverty priorities.
Grahame Smith added:
I’m delighted that the Scottish Government has accepted the Convention’s view that there is no legal impediment to making the payment of the real living wage a requirement of those in receipt of public contracts.
While this decision is a significant step forward and will make a real difference for thousands of low paid workers, we will be exploring urgently how conditionality can be extended to all dimensions of fair work, particularly requirements around collective bargaining, union recognition and the adoption of all terms and conditions negotiated nationally between employers and unions.
