Plaid Cymru AM Leanne Wood is calling on First Minister Carwyn Jones to ensure moves by a Tory MP to introduce regional pay rates for the minimum wage will not apply in Wales.
The proposal to vary the wage by reflecting local labour market conditions by Conservative Christchurch MP Christopher Chope is due for a Second Reading debate in the House of Commons on October 14.
Leanne Wood, the Plaid AM for South Wales Central who has campaigned on tougher enforcement of the minimum wage legislation, said: “This looks to me to be an attempt to allow the minimum wage to be reduced in areas like Wales where the cost of living is lower than, for instance, than in London.
“It follows attempts to introduce regional pay in the public sector. We need to take steps to increase Wales’ gross domestic product which is 26 per cent behind the UK average and not introduce something like this which would reduce it further.
“This bill would make areas, particularly those which have attracted European regeneration funds, poorer and that is totally unacceptable. It shows where the Tories are coming from – they are trying to undermine the minimum wage which was first introduced after the Tonypandy Riots, a hundred years ago.
“I will be asking the First Minister to provide a commitment that in the event of this becoming law at UK level, that the Welsh Government will take steps to make sure it will not apply in Wales.”
