Around 40 mainly young people gathered for the launch of COFUP! (Coalition Fighting Unfair Pay) at the House of Commons last night, including John McDonnell MP, with the intent of fighting for a living wage for all working people regardless of their age. The aim is to make the minimum wage a living wage for all workers, by making the European Decency Threshold of 2/3 of male median earnings the wage policy of the Labour party. That means £8 an hour in Britain today.
Owen Jones chaired and introduced the speakers, including Trade Unionists from the TSSA and GMB, local councillors and SYN EC members. GMB shop steward Rory MacQueen said that "when the minimum wage came in we were all very excited, my wages went up from £2.50 to £3.50, …which was a huge wage increase. Today 16 year-olds still get poverty pay, they can fight and die for our country, but not vote." He also pointed out that older workers have an interest in fighting poverty pay among young workers, as often they are the ones who are priced out of employment for costing an extra pound an hour.
Angela Molloy, Regional Industrial Officer for T&G Region 1, commented on the need to organise, and that "campaigning to change the law is only part of the job, which should go hand-in-hand with trade union involvement." Similar sentiments were expressed by Leyton councillor Miranda Grell, a GMB member, who urged everyone to join a trade union.
John McDonnell talked about the welcomed achievement the introduction of the minimum wage had been when Labour came to power in 1997, but that put in context this was something long overdue by US and European standards, where the minimum wage had been in place for years. Add to that the rate the minimum wage has been set at hasn’t tackled poverty, and that of the on-average 2000 calls made per year complaining about employers not enforcing the minimum wage (which must be a fraction of the actual number of infringements), only on 2 occasions had the employer been taken to court.
The launch, which was understood to be from 7-9pm, was cut short at 8.30. This, after the 7 or so speakers had finished, left 15 minutes for comment, question and discussion. As the meeting was closed the person sat next to me remarked "If I had turned up for the first time to get involved, I would have no idea what to do next." This was the shortcoming of the event. There was a lot of talk of pressurising CLP’s and spreading the message amongst young people in the Trade Unions. The problem is that very few young people are involved in the unions, less so the Labour Party. The COFUP! campaign should be one way of getting people to join the SYN, which up to now has been a skeleton of an organisation waiting to be fleshed out. From there, the need to join a trade union and the Labour party can be explained, and young people sent in to the labour movement in numbers critical enough to make a difference.
The COFUP! campaign must be welcomed by all those in the labour movement, not least the young workers and students who are directly discriminated against, not because of their ability or skill, but because of their age. As SYN EC member Marsha-Jane Thompson put it, "it’s scandalous that someone a few months older than you can earn more for doing exactly the same job."
