Politicians from across the political spectrum joined forces with Stirling employers to mark Living Wage Week and celebrate accredited organisations on Friday.
The event, hosted jointly by Mark Ruskell MSP and the Poverty Alliance, focused on the role of the real living wage in post-COVID recovery and the steps needed to make Stirling a Living Wage City.
Stirling based Living Wage employers including Sistema Scotland, Aberlour Childcare Trust and Tidy Green Clean attended alongside the Forth Valley Chamber of Commerce.
The real Living Wage in Scotland now sits at £9.50 per hour and covers more than 45,000 workers.
After the event Mark Ruskell said:
“The evidence shows that the real Living Wage is good for the businesses that pay it as well as their employees.
Stirling certainly has the potential to become a Living Wage city, lifting workers out of poverty, and while it’s early days I hope we have taken some of the first steps towards unleashing that potential.
No one is shying away from the fact that this has been a tough year, but I’m delighted that local politicians from across the political spectrum and employers were willing to come together and try to find a way to make Stirling a better place for everyone.”
Lynn Anderson from Living Wage Scotland said:
“It’s been a challenging time for many businesses, and we are heartened that despite the uncertainty, over 180 employers across Scotland have signed up for Living Wage accreditation since the first lockdown, and they join a network of over 1800 Scottish Living Wage employers that have chosen to pay the real Living Wage.
Local approaches to encourage more employers to consider the real Living Wage are an important element of tackling low pay and in-work poverty, alongside ensuring businesses can work towards resilient and sustainable wage models that provide workers with enough to cover their everyday needs.
In Stirling, there are over 30 accredited Living Wage employers from a range of sectors and industries that are helping to set the standard for businesses in the city. It’s timely that in Living Wage Week, Stirling employers and a cross-party representation of politicians had the necessary conversation on ways the real Living Wage can be at the heart of local economic recovery.”