Bevan Foundation hosts real Living Wage discussion with employers and organisations

Kicking off Living Wage Week 2020, we talked to a range of organisations to get their thoughts on the new Real Living Wage rate, how to encourage more employers to sign up, and what we can learn from other countries.

Attending the virtual Round Table were:

• Sarah Hopkins, Director of Cynnal Cymru
• Nisreen Mansour, Policy Officer at Wales TUC
• Sue Husband, Director of Business in the Community Cymru
• Dominic MacAskill, Head of Local Government at Unison Wales
• Heather Anstey, Myers, CEO of South and Mid Wales Chambers of Commerce

Areas discussed included the benefits of being a Living Wage employer, what other aspects of work need to be looked at, and why there needs to be an increased focus on strengthening the business case for paying the real Living Wage. There was agreement over an increased recognition of the role played by our ‘essential workers’ as a result of the pandemic, and how best to capitalise on this to boost the Living Wage movement. One of the key themes that arose was that we should not keep asking the question of whether employers should pay the real Living Wage, but instead seek to answer how they are able to afford this.

This Round Table was part of our activities to celebrate Living Wage Week 2020. You can find out more about what we have planned through the week here.

A recording of this virtual Round Table is available on our webinars page.