The union response

Responding to the 2021 uplift in the NMW, the retail trade union Usdaw expressed its disappointment that low paid workers would not get the full minimum wage increase that had been promised. Its general secretary, Paddy Lillis, said that Usdaw had “provided the Low Pay Commission with evidence of why we need a new deal for workers, which includes at least £10 per hour and an end to unjust rip-off youth rates”, adding that the government had “missed the opportunity to fully recognise the huge efforts low-paid key workers have made through the pandemic”.

Frances O’Grady, the general secretary of the TUC, speaking before the details of the increase were announced, said, “the government must not renege upon its commitment to raise the minimum wage. Millions of low-paid workers are struggling to make ends meet. That’s not right during a pandemic — or at any time.”

These words reflect the fact that during the COVID-19 pandemic, unions have strengthened their calls for government to meet their major NMW policy demands now rather than following the slower, more cautious approach to reform followed by the Low Pay Commission.

These demands are to:

• raise the National Minimum Wage to the level of the UK Living Wage announced annually by the Living Wage Foundation and a target of £10 an hour; and

• harmonise the differing National Minimum Wage rates into a single rate for all age groups.