We may have to live with pounds 3.60 a week ... I'm only glad I don't

THE National Minimum Wage was one of Labour's most popular promises at the last election.

Workers on poverty pay knew it could make a big difference. And nearly everyone else hoped it would start to make Britain a fairer place.

Even people with good jobs and wages are ashamed of the growing gap between rich and poor.

But the danger now is that these hopes are dashed. Instead of a major blow against low pay and poverty, it could end up as a damp squib and a major letdown for many of Labour's strongest supporters.

It is very likely that the Low Pay Commission will publish its report this week.

It will say that the minimum wage should be pounds 3.60 an hour for those 21 and over, and pounds 3.20 for 18, 19 and 20-year-olds.

The Commission was set up by the Government to conduct the biggest probe into low pay and poverty in Britain for many years. They have travelled the country, talked to workers and their bosses and looked at all the evidence.

THEY know that the rates they suggest are far from generous. No one could be proud of wages set at these levels or that young adults will get less than the full rate.

Frankly many of us would have liked to see these rates set higher, and we find it hard to understand why a 20-year-old should get lower wages than someone doing the same job but a few months older.

But we should see them as a cautious start. They give us a platform on which we can build for the future.

The Commission - made up of employers, trade unionists and experts - is sure that these pay rates will be no threat to jobs. And after all the work they have done, they should know. Once we get the minimum wage I am sure that no one will understand what all the fuss was about. We will see in practice that it will not cost jobs.

Then we can start to make the case for better rates, and to end the separate young adult rate. And after all the Commission's work, and its unanimous report, it would be quite wrong to treat it as a pick and mix menu.

The only fair thing for the Government to do is to implement it in full. Imagine my feelings when I hear that the Treasury says the rate for young adult workers is too high. The Whitehall rumour is that the Chancellor wants a pounds 3 per hour rate for those under 22. Some even say that he wants to push the age limit up to 23.

His motives I know are honourable. He is worried about youth unemployment. But most people will simply see this as a tame acceptance of poverty pay. They will fail to understand why such a key member of the Labour Government wants a young adult rate lower than the employers on the Commission.

OF COURSE, we know that the Tories will blame any rise in unemployment on the minimum wage, though they achieved some pretty long dole queues themselves.

Some employers will blame the minimum wage rather than their own failures when they put their staff on the dole.

But every time there is a small gain for working people we hear the same arguments. If we listened to them children would still be sweeping chimneys and we wouldn't have the weekend off.

So come on, Tony and Gordon. Have the courage of your convictions. Implement the report. Make clear that it is only a first, cautious step.

Tell the Commission to keep on with their work so we can get rid of poverty pay.

As one union official said to me last week: "We may have to live with pounds 3.60 for a bit, but I'm glad I don't have to live on it."

MINIMUM WAGES AROUND THE REST OF THE WORLD

USA pounds 5.15

Japan pounds 2.22

Belgium pounds 5.15

France pounds 3.75

Holland pounds 3.96

Spain pounds 1.62

Copyright 1998 MGN LTD
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