Update from Jess: Living Wage campaign gets off to a wheely good start

Friday 06-12-2019 - 00:00

The Real Living Wage movement has been going since 2001. Citizens UK found that most communities frequently mentioned low wages when asked what most affected their communities. In 2011, the Real Living Wage was officially introduced with the creation of the Real Living Wage Foundation, a campaigning organisation which accredits employers who pay all staff and contracted staff the Real Living Wage.

The Durham SU Living Wage campaign began with my predecessor Charlie Walker, who campaigned to get the SU to become an accredited Real Living Wage employer. He successfully achieved his goal, and we’re now really proud to pay all staff at least £9 an hour (going up to £9.30 with the recently announced increase). I wanted to take the campaign one step further. Having worked in the University and experienced how minimum wage at Durham doesn’t go very far, I am working to get the University to also become an accredited Living Wage employer.

I began campaigning during Real Living Wage Week (11 – 17 November) with five clear aims for the week:

  1. To educate staff and students about the Real Living Wage 
  2. To start discussions with staff and students around the Real Living Wage and what we can do to get the University to also become accredited 
  3. To collect thoughts and opinions from students and staff at the University in order to write a paper to University Executive Committee
  4. To inspire people to join the movement 
  5. To celebrate the Real Living Wage and the amazing things it does to help workers

The week was really successful. We had between 800-1,500 interactions a day on our Instagram posts, and lots of you tried to answer our quiz questions in the SU. I also ran a stall outside the Bill Bryson library, where I had many really valuable conversations with students affected by or interested in the Real Living Wage. Our prize wheel even caught the eye of University staff members! 

We also created a calculator that you can view here, which tells you how many extra hours you would need to work to earn the Real Living Wage in comparison to your current wage. You can also find out how much more coffee, laundry washes, electricity and food a month you could have if you earned the Real Living Wage. The national Real Living Wage Foundation loved our tool and shared it across their channels and networks! It’s really rewarding to be part of a campaign that is sharing resources to make change throughout the whole of the UK.

With so many daily questions, information, facts, figures and quotes, I’m really proud of the way the week met the aims I set out to achieve.

Following our Real Living Wage Week, I hosted a series of workshops with students. We discussed how to go forward with the campaign and what we can do to make sure that the University listens to our request for them to become accredited Real Living Wage employers. We had a lot of great ideas that I can’t wait to start sharing with you!

We’ll be back in the New Year with more updates from the campaign, but for now, check out the Real Living Wage Christmas gift guide, to find presents from companies that pay the Real Living Wage! 
 

Categories:

Opportunities Officer

Related Tags :

Living Wage Week, Update from Jess, Jess Dunning, Real Living Wage,

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