Chris Williamson
Main Page: Chris Williamson (Independent - Derby North)Department Debates - View all Chris Williamson's debates with the Department for Education
(10 years, 4 months ago)
Commons Chamber1. What steps the Government are taking to encourage firms to pay a living wage.
5. What steps the Government are taking to encourage firms to pay a living wage.
The Government support a living wage and encourage businesses to pay it when it is affordable and not at the expense of jobs. We recognise that these have been challenging times and we applaud companies that have chosen to pay higher wages.
That is an interesting suggestion for nudging companies in the right direction, and I will certainly have a look at it. I am certainly very opposed to coercive measures because those would simply add to unemployment, but I will reflect on that suggestion, which is a new one.
I am pleased that the Secretary of State says that he supports the living wage, but as he will know—my hon. Friend the Member for Lewisham East (Heidi Alexander) has already pointed this out—that of the 4.8 million people who are paid less than the living wage, many work for multinational, highly profitable companies. What specific steps is he taking to encourage those highly profitable companies to pay the living wage? The people deserve to know that.