A Northern Irish advice charity has has thrown its support behind the Real Living Wage campaign as it says more needs to be done to help support workers with their financial pressures.
Advice NI has expressed its continued support for the campaign during Living Wage Week as it hopes that more employers can commit to providing a Real Living Wage for their workers.
Currently there are over 100 employers in Northern Ireland that have committed to providing their workers with a real living wage, including Invest NI, the USPCA, Enterprise North West, Mackle Pet Foods and Queen’s University, with over 43,000 people in Northern Ireland currently work for real Living Wage organisations and businesses.
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In last week’s Autumn Budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that the National Living Wage will rise to £12.21 starting next April. However, The Living Wage Foundation says this new rate still falls short of its latest figure of £12.60, and is the only UK wage rate based solely on the cost of living.
Advice NI’s commitment to the Real Living Wage is long-established. The organisation signed up as a Living Wage employer in 2021, and the following year its policy manifesto called for the adoption of Community Wealth Building as a way of addressing poverty and climate change, calling for all government departments to become Real Living Wage employers.
Kevin Higgins, Head of Policy at Avice NI, added: “Advocating for the Real Living Wage is a crucial part of our role at Advice NI. We are here to support people and businesses through times of difficulty, and by providing fair and equitable pay to the working people of Northern Ireland, we will not only enable them to live their lives well, but we will also reduce the risk of people falling into financial difficulties in the first place.
“Equally, the benefits of paying the Real Living Wage to workers can be felt by employers too through improved recruitment, employee motivation and productivity. By signing up, businesses can forge wider societal change by encouraging other organisations to join the movement, and the team at Living Wage NI is on hand to support businesses large and small to gain their all-important accreditation.”
Mary McManus, Living Wage NI Regional Manager, said: “A rise in the National Living Wage is welcome, but this is still not sufficient to cover the financial demands workers across the country are facing in their everyday lives. This is especially pressing in Northern Ireland, where progress is being made, but one in five workers in NI are still paid below the Real Living Wage —the highest rate in the UK. This is why Living Wage Week is so crucial in providing us with an opportunity to celebrate our network of Living Wage employers and to call on more employers here to get behind this all-important movement. The benefits of paying the Real Living Wage extend far beyond the workforce. Employers across the UK who have supported the movement have reported improvements across the board, from recruitment and retention to reputation.
“We are certainly making progress in Northern Ireland and are thrilled to have surpassed the milestone of 100 accredited Living Wage Employers since Living Wage NI launched earlier this year, but it’s crucial that we keep the momentum up in order to close the gap with other regions.”
For more information on Living Wage Week please visit https://www.livingwage.org.uk/living-wage-week or to become an accredited real Living Wage employer, visit https://www.adviceni.net/campaigns-projects/living-wage-ni .
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