File spoon-archives/marxism-news.archive/marxism-news_1997/97-04-22.131, message 14


Date: Mon, 14 Apr 1997 23:10:48
From: IRSC <irsp-AT-netwizards.net>
Subject: M-NEWS: From the Pat Finucane Centre weekly update


*****
Low wages in Derry highlighted
*****
Paddy Logue, the spokesperson for the Derry-based Campaign for Decent Wages,
has called for renewed efforts to have a minimum wage established in
Northern Ireland. He was speaking at the AGM of the Campaign which was held
on Wednesday (9 April) in the city. He said that the British Labour party is
committed to the principle of a minimum wage and will set up a commission to
work out exactly what the rate should be. "It is a sad reflection of the
depressed state of the local economy that the figure stlg4.29p considered a
minimum wage in London, would be considered generous by many local workers.
The Campaign for Decent Wages will continue to highlight the degree and
extent to which Derry is the low pay capital of Britain and Ireland. Links
are being formed between Derry, Strabane and Letterkenny to strengthen the
fight back against this injustice. Concern about the interrelated problems
of unemployment, poverty and low pay and a determination to do something
about them are the only requirements for membership of the campaign."

Paddy Logue's comments were reinforced by the publication of a report
published by the Northern Ireland Anti-Poverty Action Network 
entitled "All Work and Low Pay: the case for a statutory minimum wage in
Northern
Ireland". The report shows that one in four people in Northern Ireland stand
to get a pay rise if a minimum wage is introduced. The report also shows
that in Northern Ireland workers earn on average 20% less than their British
counterpart even though some basic essentials like electricity cost more.
Indeed the report suggests that the north is significantly worse off than
Britain in many respects. For example, 25% of Northern Ireland homes earn
less than stlg125 a week compared to just over 20% in England. (The figure for
Wales is 28%). However other factors suggest that Northern Ireland is the
most impoverished part of the UK. Northern Ireland has an unemployment rate
of 11% compared to the UK average of 8%. (These are Government figures and
therefore should be treated with a high degree of caution as they
significantly underestimate the levels of unemployment in both Britain and
Northern Ireland). The North has the highest adjusted mortality rate of
11.65 per one thousand as compared with the UK average of 10.69. It has the
lowest gross domestic product per person of stlg8,025 as compared with the UK
average of stlg9,768. Weekly earnings for men and women are the lowest for any
region of the UK.



   

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