The State Is Subsidising Our Largest And Most Profitable Retailers.

[mikey4444]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-32272817

Aso the Sunday Times :::: http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/uk_news/article1542849.ece

These firms are able to pay their workers below the living wage, knowing that us, the taxpayers, will have to subsidise their poor wages with "in work" benefits.

This isn't a Party-political issue, as its been going on for years. How can this be right ? Why should my hard-earned wages go into the coffers of already wealthy companies, like Tesco, ASDA and Amazon ?

[fiction-factory]

The minimum wage is being paid. The 'living wage' is a concept that doesn't make much sense to me as it differs depending on one's circumstances

[fiction-factory]

Maybe the in work benefits are too high?
I used to be against the minimum wage but I can now see a case though for increasing it by at least 10%. Interestingly though, we pay pensioners far less than the minimum wage and the living wage

[fiction-factory]

Why should my hard-earned wages go into the coffers of already wealthy companies, like Tesco, ASDA and Amazon

Maybe they wouldn't employ so many people if they had to pay the living wage? It's a complex issue

[Baldric]

Have a read here Mikey, find out why
///These firms are able to pay their workers below the living wage,///

What is the difference between the living wage and the national minimum wage?
The living wage is an informal benchmark, not a legally enforceable minimum level of pay, like the national minimum wage.
The national minimum wage is set by the business secretary each year on the advice of the Low Pay Commission. It is enforced by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
The living wage is currently calculated by the Centre for Research in Social Policy at Loughborough University, while the London living wage has been calculated by the GLA since 2005.
The basic idea is that these are the minimum pay rates needed to let workers lead a decent life.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20204594

[mikey4444]

FF...if 5.2 million British workers are having to claim benefits because their Employers are not paying them decent wages, then its obvious to me that a living wage is not being paid, however you define the word.

To use Tesco as an example..... according to the Sunday Times, the company paid £519m in tax last year, but received £364m in public subsidy for its 209,000 low paid workers. We taxpayers are being taken for a ride here, and treated like mugs.

[mushroom25]

the terms "minimum wage" and "living wage" are today meaningless when expressed as an amount paid by the hour, since many retail staff won't ever know for certain how many hours they will be asked to work in any given week.

[retrocop]

A fair proportion of Lidl staff and other supermarkets around my area are Eastern European who are very happy to work for this small fortune (to them).
Well that must be the "benefit" of an open door immigration system except it doesn't "benefit" us pensioners and others who have to subsidise it.

[fiction-factory]

It seems unfair to blame TESCO for a generous benefits system

[mikey4444]

We seem to be getting bogged down by the terms living and minimum wage.

Its really not the point. These firms are being subsidised by eye-wateringly large sums of taxpayers money, which they will then use to dole out to their shareholders.

As regards the official minimum wage, its obvious that it needs to be raised to a more realistic level, as it is plainly not sufficient for people to live on.

[fiction-factory]

What's Labour's proposal on minimum wage, Mikey?
I think the only party suggesting anything like a big hike in minimum wage is one of the Socialsit Alliance parties that wants something like £10 an hour. But even then if someone has 6 children to support they'd still get inwork benefits

[mikey4444]

Retrocop...this issue has nothing whatsoever to do with immigration.

The staff in my local Lidl are all Welsh (as far as I know), and are paid exactly the same by Lidl as other non UK staff. Not sure why you have decided to make this an immigration problem ?

[fiction-factory]

If someone chooses to have lots of children, for example, why should the employer have to pay enough to cover any benefits that would be due?

[fiction-factory]

Using the same measure, how much is paid by the state to subsidise workers in the NHS and other public services? I bet it's a lot more than is paid to TESCO& Amazon workers

[Baldric]

///The modern UK Living Wage Campaign was launched by members of London Citizens in 2001.///

2001 eh? Now that would be under a Labour Government then!

[hc4361]

It's a conundrum. If unskilled staff earn a living wage all other salaries everywhere will have to increase. Increased salaries bring increased costs of everything so the new living wage won't be sufficient and will have to increase, leading to raised salaries .......

[ToraToraTora]

They are getting at least the minimum wage. This is a rather silly evaluation of reality mikey, the "living wage" is a fluid concept of no real substance. You could equally well argue that these employers are saving billions in benefits because the workers are at least earning money that would otherwise have to come from benefits.

[mikey4444]

TTT...I am not sure I could argue that !

These firms are only paying as much as the minimum wage, because the law forces them to do so. Even with the law as it is, some firms have tried and succeeded in paying less than the minimum wage, as has been seen recently in the exposure of certain Home Care companies, that haven't been paying their carers travelling time between visits, my niece included in that.

I said that this issue wasn't a party-political affair, but as others have chosen to bring politics into it.....it was a Labour Government that introduced the minimum wage, which the Tory opposition at the time voted tooth and nail against, although the present Tory party now think that it a smashing idea !

[mikey4444]

Baldric.....perhaps you might have forgotten this ! ::::

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Minimum_Wage_Act_1998

[Baldric]

I seem to remember it was ok years back for the State to subsidise the uneconomic Coal Industry.

[mikey4444]

Baldric...an interesting comment but entirely irrelevant to the subject under discussion.