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To: Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak

Demand a pay rise for key workers

Key workers are the bedrock of our society. They’re cleaning our hospitals, getting us to work and keeping food on the shelves in our supermarkets.

But right now 2 million key workers live on minimum wage. That’s £8.91 an hour — and a pittance for the work they’ve done throughout this crisis.

The government must:
- Do all it can to ensure that every key worker gets a pay rise.
· Raise the minimum wage – which will up the pay of two million key workers overnight
· Give meaningful pay rises to the four million key workers in the public sector
· Ban the zero hours contracts which penalise key workers in health, social care and retail.

Why is this important?

Key workers are getting this country through the pandemic. They headed out to work when the rest of the country stayed at home – putting themselves and their families at risk. It’s time to end the low pay and insecure work that leave many of these workers struggling, and make sure every key worker gets a payrise.

The coronavirus crisis demonstrated how much we all owe to all our key workers - healthcare staff, care workers, retail and delivery workers, public transport workers, teachers and support staff, cleaners, energy workers and so many others.

But the fact is, many of these workers - an estimated two million - are on the national minimum wage. And many are in insecure work, employed on zero hours contracts with poor terms and conditions.

The government can raise the minimum wage. It can use its powers to ban zero hours contracts. And it directly sets the wages of four million key workers in the public sector. It’s time for ministers to act – and give all our key workers the payrise they have earned.

Ministers turned up to clap for key workers every Thursday during the lockdown. Now is the time for them to show their support again.

Partner

Updates

2021-02-01 12:56:15 +0000

50,000 signatures reached

2020-12-07 23:18:03 +0000

20,000 signatures reached

2020-09-15 21:34:30 +0100

10,000 signatures reached

2020-09-14 13:24:22 +0100

5,000 signatures reached

2020-09-14 11:49:15 +0100

1,000 signatures reached

2020-09-14 11:43:38 +0100

500 signatures reached