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$15NOW campaign being waged across the USA which has seen a dramatic rise in both rates of pay
and living standards amongst the working poor.
Resolution 4
Pay for Apprentices
(1)
This Conference considers that investing in young people through apprenticeships is
fundamentally important to any long-term strategy for economic growth. Conference further
considers that all apprenticeships should offer high quality raining as well as good prospects and a
fair wage. Conference acknowledges that 2 million apprenticeships have been started over this
Par1iament but recognises that this figure masks a picture of poverty pay and abuse of the system
with many employers taking advantage of government support to recruit cheap labour. Conference
recognises that the minimum wage for apprentices, which currently starts at just £2.73 an hour,
remains shockingly low, but that a significant proportion of employers fail to pay even the miserly
legal minimum. Conference notes the findings of the 014 Apprenticeship Pay Survey which found
that 14% of all apprentices were paid less than the minimum wage in 014, 24% of 16 to 18 year old
apprentices received less than the minimum wage, and 32% of 19 and 20 year old apprentices
received less than the minimum wage after their first year. Conference is also profoundly concerned
at the continuing gender imbalance in apprenticeship pay with professions where women are
traditionally overrepresented such as hairdressing and care the worst culprits for breaking minimum
wage law, leading to high drop- out rates and wastage of public money. Conference believes that
employers should pay apprentices a living wage wherever possible, and calls on the GFTU Executive
to campaign for fair pay for apprentices and tough action against cheating employers.
Resolution 5
The Housing Crisis
(1)
This BGCM agrees there is a drastic shortage of affordable housing nationally. The main
cause being the failure of successive governments to encourage the building of affordable housing,
ensuring the housing crisis would ease and the building industry and economy would be stimulated.
Decades of underinvestment in the social housing sector, de-regulation of the private rental sector
and lack of support for the building of new, good-standard social housing has left UK housing in a
crisis.
(2)
The much heralded Right to Buy Scheme is also a major cause of the housing shortage.
Houses were sold off at massive discounts and the money was not used to build more houses.
Furthermore, repossessions and the built in profit these massive discounts gave meant these houses
fell into the hands of greedy landlords who charge inflated rents subsidised by the very councils who
sold the houses in the first place. Hundreds of thousands of low paid workers on Council waiting lists
are forced to rent from profiteering Tory landlords due to lack of affordable housing and their
quality of life is eroded by having to pay exorbitant rents.
Working people have long had to suffer insufficient, poor, inadequate and expensive housing,
causing social and economic problems, for anyone without sufficient resources wishing to create a
life for themselves and the future generation.