National Express, the Birmingham based bus company has become the largest employer within the private sector to say it will pay its staff the living wage. The company has pledged to pay all agency workers, employees and contracted staff a minimum of £7.85 an hour from 2016.
The pledge by the company to ensure that all staff earn a Living Wage has been welcomed by trade unionists and senior politicians, particularly the Labour leader Ed Miliband who has mentioned the Living Wage in several of his speeches.
Ed Miliband said:
“The announcement that National Express will become a Living Wage employer is fantastic news for their employees and an example of courage and leadership in the business community. We will support more firms to make this move with a tax break for those that do so in the first year of a Labour Government.”
The Living Wage foundation claim that 1,200 firms had now signed up to pay the rate of £7.85 an hour (£9.15 in London) which is around 20%(40% in London) higher than the current minimum wage, but added that National Express was the first transport group to commit to paying it. It comes as research found last year that just 22 per cent of the working population are paid less than the living wage.
The Living Wage foundation director said:
“We hope their announcement today and the leadership that they are showing, will lay down a marker in the transport sector. The Living Wage is a robust calculation that reflects the real cost of living, rewarding a hard day’s work with a fair day’s pay.”
