Presenting the 'National Living Rage' Christmas song!

Siobhain has brought together a group of MPs to release the 'National Living Rage' Christmas campaign song - which has gone viral! 

The song was recorded on the 6th December, to bypass the media blackout of this issue, and generate higher public awareness. It’s based on the 1984 charity single and Christmas number one ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ with new lyrics to publicise the plight of shopworkers. It was recorded in Alaska Street studios, with the help of volunteers and MPs, including the Kevin Brennan MP, Julie Cooper MP, Mary Creagh MP, Julie Elliot MP, Helen Goodman MP, Carolyn Harris MP, Dan Jarvis MP, Mike Kane MP, Fiona MacTaggart MP, Melanie Onn MP and Angela Rayner MP. 

You can watch the video below, and scroll down for more information. 
 


PRESS RELEASE (click here to read in full) 

Since the introduction of the ‘National Living Wage’ this year, some of the UK’s most famous companies have been cutting the total pay of their long-serving staff, while increasing per hour wages.

There are dozens of companies across the country that are making these pay cuts, mainly in the retail, hospitality and food production sectors. Many are multinational companies. Some of them have historically great reputations but have made terrible mistakes, while others are notorious for treating staff poorly.

With in-work poverty creeping up, the scandal of low-paid Britain is more worrying than ever – and our biggest and best companies have a responsibility to treat their loyal staff with respect.

We know that the public are getting angrier, with a quarter of a million people signing national petitions against these pay cuts, but despite this, we are discovering more and more companies issuing new contracts with reduced pay. If companies do not stop the practice of tearing up old contracts and reducing total pay, then the government must intervene.

We are calling on company Boards to reverse their decisions at their Board meetings in January.

Top lines:

Labour MPs launched the ‘National Living Rage’ single this week, to publicise the fact that thousands of low paid workers are receiving pay cuts this Christmas.

These pay cuts have been made by many British companies around the country, through ending old contracts, with short ‘show’ consultations, and issuing new contracts, with reduced pay packages. The contract changes include: termination of double time on Sundays, Bank Holidays; elimination of ‘unsocial’ hours payments; ending the inclusion of 30m lunches in staff contracts; termination of free lunches; pension cuts; abolition of seasonal bonuses; termination of location premiums; abolition of a range of additional allowances; among many other contract changes. All of these changes have been made around the introduction of the new higher basic rate of pay, as an opportunity to cut costs.

This campaign is driven by the desire to raise awareness of the fact that thousands of people in this country, who are already on low pay, are receiving a pay cut.

Who is affected and who is cutting pay:

At the high street retailer M&S, it was estimated that about 11,000 of their total workforce of 83,000 would be negatively impacted in some way by pay cuts – that’s 13% of the workforce affected adversely (almost all on pre-2002 contracts). We also know, directly from conversations with M&S executives, that 3,100 people will be affected by at least £1000 or more as a result of these pay cuts – comprising 4% of the total number of employees.

We estimate that over half a million people in the retail, restaurant and food manufacturing industry may be receiving a pay cut. That’s 624,000 people to be precise, representing 13% of the total number of workers in these industries.

And around 4% of the total number of staff in these industries may be seeing a very significant cut in their pay packets – that’s around 192,000 employees around the country, taking home LESS as a result of unscrupulous employment practices.