Tánaiste and Minister Nash welcome announcement by Cornmarket that it is to become a living wage employer
STRICT EMBARGO: 00:01 TUES 9TH FEBRUARY 2016
The Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton TD and the Minister for Business and Employment Ged Nash TD have welcomed the announcement by Cornmarket Group Financial Services that it is to become a Living Wage employer.
The financial services brokerage is committing to ensuring all of its staff is paid at the very least the Living Wage from the 1st of March next.
A Living Wage is an hourly rate of pay which makes possible a minimum acceptable standard of living. In Ireland, the Living Wage Technical Group has determined that it should be €11.50 per hour.
Welcoming the announcement today, Tanaiste Joan Burton said: “I would like to warmly welcome the announcement by Cornmarket that it is to join a growing band of progressive employers who support the Living Wage campaign.
“As an organisation which deals with the public sector, the Living Wage campaign is a good fit with Cornmarket. While I am aware that the economic recovery has not yet reached every business, I would encourage more companies who believe that their staff should earn a decent income to follow the lead shown by Cornmarket and sign up to the Living Wage.”
Minister Nash said: “Cornmarket was one of the companies who attended the Forum on the Living Wage which I hosted in Dublin Castle last September. It has been very supportive of our drive to ensure that workers earn enough money to live on and I want to commend the management team for making this significant move to becoming a Living Wage employer.
“We are also in discussions with other companies who share our view that workers should be entitled to a decent day’s pay for a decent day’s work. I believe there is real momentum behind the Living Wage campaign and I expect more businesses to express their support in coming months.”
Roddy Murphy, managing director of Cornmarket, said: “We at Cornmarket feel that every worker should be paid sufficiently to ensure that they can provide for the basic needs of themselves and their families in terms of housing, food, healthcare etc, and to enable them to maintain a minimum standard of living.”
Other companies which have signed up to the Living Wage include: SSE, Aldi, IKEA, Lidl, Dublin Food Co-op, Oxfam, Labour Party and Clúid Housing.