Meeting of the Parliament 23 April 2014
Never mind the case law—I will give practical examples. What about the care contracts at Renfrewshire Council, which is paying the living wage? What about the contracts in Islington? Even Boris Johnson can ensure that his contracts pay the living wage. Who would have believed that Nicola Sturgeon would be outflanked on the left by Boris Johnson?
It is time that we closed the low-pay loophole and introduced the living wage in all public contracts. The Government should not give us the excuse that we are too weak, too poor or too stupid to introduce the living wage in this Parliament. Are we a proper Parliament or a debating club? This is a chance to send out a powerful signal in support of fairness. It is time for the Parliament to stand up for working people, and it is time for the SNP Government and its back benchers to stand up and be counted.
I move,
That the Parliament acknowledges the support for the living wage from across the political spectrum, civic Scotland and the business community; notes that over 400,000 people in Scotland are working for less than the living wage and that nearly two thirds of these are women; further notes that payment of the living wage would boost the earnings of a full-time minimum wage worker by over £2,600 a year; understands that Scotland’s public sector spends approximately £10 billion on procurement; believes that this spending power could and should be used to build a moral economy, and therefore calls for the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Bill to be amended to extend the payment of the living wage to public contracts.
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