Back-dated boost for pay may follow battle for ‘living wage’

Councillors in Hull voted unanimously last month in favour of the move, which will boost the wages of the 1,044 lowest paid workers by £1.50 an hour.

The Liberal Democrats claim Labour has executed the “fastest U-turn ever”, agreeing initially to have it introduced by April, then putting it off indefinitely.

But Labour councillors maintain they need more time to ensure it does not end up costing the council more than the £600,000 it is expected to cost.

Labour cabinet member Coun Phil Webster accused the Lib Dems of trying “to grab a cheap headline”.

He said: “They are acting like petulant children. We said we agreed with it in principle and we are going to insist on agency staff being paid it as well. We are behind most cities in the country on pay.”

He added: “We have to ensure it is viable. There is nothing to stop it being back-dated to April.”

But Liberal Democrat councillor Charles Quinn said there was no certainty about when the wage would be brought in.

He said: “We originally asked to discuss this issue in December, but Labour refused to discuss it until February.

“Then they voted for it – and now it seems they’ve back-tracked already.

“Labour councillors clearly don’t think there is any urgency and have indefinitely put it off.”

Around one in five councils have committed to paying the living wage of £7.45 an hour, including York and Sheffield, who will become the “joint first” in the region when they start paying the extra amount from April.

Earlier this month school staff in Sheffield went on strike after being told their employer would not follow the council’s lead.

The workers, whose jobs were “outsourced” by Sheffield Council, were supported by the GMB, who said council contractors had been quick to follow the local authority pay freeze, but “ran for the shadows” when something was put on the table for the lowest paid.

The drive towards the living wage is an historic Yorkshire cause, with the Liberal MP for Dewsbury, Mark Oldroyd, calling for it in 1894. At the moment it is voluntary. While the living wage has many supporters, it is far from a panacea with one think-tank predicting it would hit young people the hardest with the loss of 160,000 jobs nationally.