by New Worker correspondent

There were no reported outbreaks of dancing in the streets of Tuesday despite that being the day when the new statutory minimum wage rates increased. The National Living Wage (a term stolen a few years ago from the Living Wage Foundation) rose from £11.44 per hour for those aged over 21 to £12.21. Those below 20 are on the National Minimum Wage. Those between 18 to 20 rose from £8.60 to £10.00, those under 18 and apprentices rise from £6.40 to £7.55 hourly.

The Government say this will benefit about 4.5 million workers. However, as the press has recently been commenting on the coming of the £5.00 pub pint, it is clear that these increases will not see an upsurge in riotous living. Instead the money will have to be spent on boosting the profits of energy companies because the energy cap rose by 6.4 per cent from £1,738 to £1,849 on the very same day. These figures are below the Real Living Wage urged by the Living Wage Foundation (LWF), who say the UK Living Wage should be £12.60 and for London £13.85.

The LWF welcomed the latest increases but point out that workers paid the National Living Wage will still earn £760 less per year than those earning the real Living Wage. “This difference could cover almost three months of food or two months of rent and energy bills.” Worse yet, “in London, the gap is even wider. A worker earning the National Living Wage would need £3,198 extra per year to match the London Living Wage – equivalent to nearly a year’s worth of food or four months of rent and energy bills.”

The Foundation claims that its own figures are based on what employees and their families need to live, while the Government figure is based on a target matching 66 per cent of median earnings. Being sponsored by FTSE companies and the likes of IKEA it takes care not to mention anything so vulgar as trade unions.

Nevertheless, union leaders from TUC general secretary Paul Nowak downwards were delighted with the Government’s increase. “This increase will make a real difference to the lowest paid in this country at a time when one in six are skipping meals to get by.” The two main unions representing low-paid workers signalled their approval, with Unison’s Christina McAnea parroting Labour’s claim that “making work pay is vital to recharge the economy and help hard-pressed families walk a financial tightrope”. The GMB echoed this by saying “a much needed wage rise for millions of low-paid workers is welcome”, but wisely added that “in care homes, schools, the NHS and so many other employers, workers are still not getting the levels of pay they deserve”.

The big problem with the statuary minimum wage is that it has become the maximum wage in many occupations. In addition, setting standards for a decent hourly rate does nothing to address the problem of irregular hours. After all, a month’s rent does not go down when a worker on a zero-hours contract has only had few hours of work that month.

Given that union density is now strongest among better paid and qualified workers, it is at least arguable that many low-paid workers do not see the need for trade unions if they are guaranteed at least a modest rise by Government decree, or by a voluntary agreement with bosses.