Tories cause for Wage Concern

Our campaign to save the minimum wage is really taking off. I'm delighted to see that Usdaw, the shopworkers union, has come on board (I think they'll be first of many.)

We've decided to call our campaign 'Wage Concern' and the website is now up and running. I've even doing a vlog highlighting my days working in the kitchens. My first job was as a commis chef 55 years ago at the Patten Arms in Warrington. I was protected by the Wage Council which the Tories abolished in 1993.

The Employment Opportunities Bill, tabled by Senior Conservative Christopher Chope, who as a minister helped bring in the Poll Tax, is timetabled for its second reading in Parliament next Friday.

During the Bill’s first reading, Chope said it will: “introduce more freedom, flexibility and opportunity for those seeking employment in the public and private sectors.”

The Bill, which is supported by ten other Tory MPs, aims to:

- allow employees to opt-out of the minimum wage
- ensure all public sector jobs are advertised openly
- grant the ‘right to work’ under the Declaration of Human Rights by allowing workers to be paid less than the minimum wage

My god, only a Tory could suggest that not being able to work for less than minimum wage would be a denial of Human Rights. This from a party that actually wants to abolish the Human Rights Act and provide cheaper labour.

Each day we'll feature each one of the Tory MPs backing the bill, Last time we looked at Christopher Chope.

Today we'll look at Philip Davies.

Davies, the MP for Shipley, should be a passionate defender of the minimum wage as he used to work on the checkout at ASDA.

Sadly this isn't the case. But like Chope - who used the Declaration of Human Rights as an excuse to axe it - Davies tries to come up with a valid reason for scrapping it. He told the Yorkshire Post:

"Because an employer must pay the national minimum wage, it is less likely that they would be prepared to take a chance on a former prisoner looking for a job, somebody with no qualifications at all, or somebody with mental health problems.

"I believe it is leading to some of the most vulnerable people in our society finding it harder than ever to find a job and, being left on a lifetime of welfare which is not good for them and certainly of no benefit to society as a whole."

Remarkable! The Tories fought tooth and nail against the introduction of the minimum wage, saying it would lead to a million people losing their jobs. It actually created jobs.

The last increase in the minimum wage helped over a million workers - two thirds of them women. In fact, combined with Working Tax Credits and other benefits, it will guarantee an income of at least £292 a week.

And just like Chope, he doesn't practice what he preaches. One of the aspects of this Tory Bill is to advertise public sector jobs. Chope said in House during the first reading:

"The final element of my Bill would require all public sector organisations to advertise their job vacancies externally, so that those outside the magic circle would have the freedom to compete for jobs on an equal basis. For example, there are 672 BBC management jobs with salaries of more than £70,000. Are there not many people out there in today’s job market who would give their eye teeth just to have the opportunity to compete for those jobs?"

I'm all for increasing opportunity and having a level playing field but it's a bit hypocritical when Davies, like Chope, employs his own wife in his parliamentary office.

So we're calling on everyone who believes in fairness and social justice to join Wage Concern and kill this Tory Bill next Friday.

Wage Concern is a grassroots campaign to stop that bill - and we need your help.

You can do this by:

1. Signing our petition here

2. Joining our campaign mailing list here

3. Getting your friends to join our Facebook group

4. Lobby your MP here

5. Join us at the House of Commons to kill this Tory Bill on Friday 15th May.

You can follow the campaign at www.wageconcern.com

We've got just seven days to save the Minimum Wage.

With your help, we can do it.