Renewed ideas on a minimum wage
Readers of Caterer have given their overwhelming support to the re-introduction of a minimum wage for workers in the hospitality industry.
Last week we used the subject of minimum wages as the basis for our first news survey on Caterer Connect - our new 24-hour telephone information system - and 55 of you phoned to give us your opinion. An overwhelming 78% said you thought there should be a minimum wage, while just 12% phoned to say you thought it was a bad idea.
Although the sample size makes it dangerous to draw conclusions, the issue of a minimum wage is clearly going to be on the political agenda as the run-up to the next general election begins. It may, therefore, be useful to look at its background.
When, in August 1993, the Government abolished the Wages Councils, which set minimum wages on a sector-by-sector basis, it argued they cost jobs and were too prescriptive for employers.
The Labour Party, conversely, fighting what it sees as a sweatshop mentality among the UK's employers, has promised to bring in a national minimum wage, although party leader Tony Blair says he has no plans to set the figure well before the election.
Last week the Trades Union Congress joined the debate, arguing strongly in favour of a minimum wage. But, unlike Mr Blair, it intends to set a recommended figure at the next annual congress in September.
An employer perspective is provided by the British Hospitality Association (BHA), which at the last election produced statistics to show the staggering cost to businesses of the reintroduction of a minimum wage. Earlier this week a spokeswoman for the BHA said feedback from members was still vehemently opposed to a minimum wage, and expressed surprise at the results of our poll. The BHA argues a minimum wage would start pay at too high a level to maintain traditional differentials between staff at different levels. If differentials were eroded, incentives to improve performance and gain new skills would disappear.
The only answer, it says, would be to cut jobs, thus negating the basic premise that a minimum wage protects the interests of the bottom rung of staff. Fair point, and the last thing this industry needs right now is legislation that is going to add to the cost of running a business.
But what about the public perception, however flawed, that this industry pays low wages for long hours? Surely that is a more potent threat as we enter a sustained period of growth, and one that a statutory minimum wage can only help to dispel.
