Newsnight: Immigrant Workers Exploited
Last night Newsnight broadcast an investigation into the exploitation of immigrant labour in London hotels. Newsnight found that workers were being paid according to the number of rooms cleaned not hours worked. This meant that workers were regularly being paid below the £5.73 per hour minimum adult wage. Example payslips which the BBC uncovered include [...]
The Cost of Living, in Britain and Beyond
An exploratory study published last week by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation states that about one in four people in Britain are living below the minimum income standard and this is increasing as unemployment rises. The Minimum Income Standard (MIS) for Britain is based on the public’s perception of what is deemed to be a “socially [...]
The Living Wage: Professor Jane Wills’ inaugural lecture
Impactt attended a fascinating and inspiring inaugural lecture by Professor Jane Wills on the Living Wage on Thursday evening. Professor Wills used the issue of the ‘living wage’ to ask questions about the morality and sustainability of our economic system.Wills made comparison between the late nineteenth century campaign for a living wage in East London, [...]
Let’s Clean up Fashion Report 2008: Ambitious plans, but little progress
Labour behind the Label (LBL) has published its annual ‘Let’s Clean up Fashion’ report on the labour standards of high street fashion retailers. Like previous reports it makes fascinating reading. This year’s report focuses on retailers’ efforts on Living Wages. This is a crucial area for ethical trade and labour standards, particularly in the era [...]
The Food Crisis and Living Wages
For the past couple of weeks the media has been full of stories about food inflation and its devastating impact on the developing world. Last week the World Bank and the IMF released reports indicating that we are facing a potential ‘food price crisis’ and thousands of people may starve. There have been riots in [...]