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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