Increase UK minimum wage to boost economy, Unite urges

The minimum wage should be increased immediately to £7.81 an hour, Britain’s biggest trade union has said, arguing it would boost the economy as well as lift millions of low paid workers out of poverty.

Unite said a £1.50 increase from the current hourly rate of £6.31 was affordable because it would generate an estimated £2.1bn in revenues for the public purse and create at least 30,000 jobs.

About 4.6m low-paid workers would benefit, making them better off by an average of £1,400 a year, according to an independent report commissioned by the union.

Len McCluskey, general secretary, said: “We have long-argued for an immediate uplift in the minimum wage of £1.50 to get people out of poverty and get some real growth into our economy, not this phoney one fuelled by a housing bubble.

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/sep/25/minimum-wage-unite-boost-economy-jobs-uk

Excellent idea but higher would obviously be better..