Chuka Umunna MP

Chuka Umunna, Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate for Streatham, welcomes the Government’s announcement that from later this year, it will no longer be legal to use customers’ tips to bring workers’ pay up to the minimum wage.

Currently, bosses can use service charges and tips towards meeting the minimum wage for employees, but from October this practice will be outlawed and any tips left for staff will be given in addition to the minimum wage. This follows a Government investigation into how tips and service charges are used as part of employee salaries in restaurants and the hospitality industry. The rule-change will benefit those working in these industries, where tipping is common.

Chuka Umunna, commenting on the change, said:

“It is wrong that some employers have been able to use this loophole as a way of getting out of paying a fair wage; people leave tips on the understanding that the money goes to those who serve them. This move will ensure a fairer deal for all those who work in restaurants, bars and hotels both in Streatham and nationally”.

Chuka recently spoke to Tessa Jowell MP, Minister for the Olympics and Member of Parliament for the neighbouring constituency of Dulwich and West Norwood, on how the 2012 Olympics will benefit people in Streatham, Clapham, Balham, Tulse Hill and Brixton.  You can watch the video below:

( Due to a minor fault there is a slight time delay between the sound and the visual on this video)

I am proud to be a trustee of the Lambeth based, Generation Next Foundation, and was honoured to speak at its launch event earlier this month. The foundation exists to empower urban youth, address the lack of activities for young people outside school and, in so doing, undermine gang culture (I am pictured, left, with its founders, Streatham residents Hamdi and Ludvig Bonin).

Generation Next provides opportunities for young people in fashion design, operating its own fashion label, Belvedere Clothing. This means that those involved get a real insight into the industry alongside a financial resource to further their studies, with designers keeping a percentage of the profit made by their designs. The foundation also operates a film production programme, allowing young people to make documentaries on the subjects which matter to them most and at the same time creating a vehicle for positive change. The foundation’s interactive media website gives students the opportunity to upload their work and share ideas.

While providing young people with skills to pursue their ambitions, the foundation emphasises the importance of instilling responsibility, social consciousness and the idea that anything is possible – with hard work. Its other trustees include Martin Offiah MBE, Britain’s greatest ever Rugby League score tryer, Leo Inhenacho, singer with The Streets, and the noted actor and writer Rikki Beadle-Blair.

Too often our young people are belittled and demonised. Crucially, Generation Next’s approach is constructive, encouraging young people to take ownership of their destiny, make the most of their talents and ensuring that their voices are heard. This is why I believe it offers a powerful symbol of hope for the future.

Check out the Generation Next websites by clicking on the links below:
Generation Next
Spotliet

Chuka Umunna, Labour’s Parliamentary candidate for Streatham, and fellow South London Labour politicians condemn Tory moves to abolish the National Minimum Wage.

Senior Conservatives are making moves to scrap the minimum wage. A group of Tory MPs led by Christopher Chope, a former Minister and member of the shadow cabinet, have introduced a Bill in the House of Commons which would effectively abolish the National Minimum Wage (NMW). The Bill would make the NMW, currently set at £5.73 per hour, redundant by allowing employees to opt out of receiving the minimum wage in the same way that they may opt out of the maximum 48 hour working week.

Labour’s introduction of the minimum wage back in 1998 was a groundbreaking step in overcoming poverty and ending the tyranny of low pay. When the NMW came into being, wages of as little as £1.20 an hour were common and legal – that’s just £1.38 an hour in today’s prices.

Since 1998, the NMW has benefited over 1.5 million workers, raising the living standards of the worst-off – in London alone over 70,000 benefited from it last year. Studies show that rather than weakening the economy, the adoption of the minimum wage has created a more motivated and productive workforce, whilst providing an incentive for firms to invest more in their employees’ skills.

In a joint letter to local newspapers, Chuka Umunna, Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate for Streatham, Keith Hill, Labour MP for Streatham, Tessa Jowell, Minster for the Olympics, and Labour Deputy Leader, Harriet Harman MP (pictured with Umunna), condemned the Bill.  In their letter they wrote:

“Scrapping the minimum wage now would have catastrophic consequences for over 70,000 Londoners who benefit from it, bringing a return to poverty wages at a time when families are finding it more difficult to make ends meet.

“It is difficult to imagine the past 10 years without a minimum wage in place and the inroads made into child poverty would simply not have been impossible without it. That is why Labour will oppose any move to do away with it.”

In Parliament last week, senior Conservatives MPs introduced a Bill which would effectively scrap the National Minimum Wage.

The group of MPs led by the former minister and shadow cabinet member Christopher Chope MP have put forward a Ten Minute Rule bill which would make the National Minimum Wage (currently set at £5.73) effectively redundant by allowing employees to opt out of receiving the minimum wage in the same way that they may opt out of the maximum 48 hour working week.

Labour’s introduction of the minimum wage back in 1998 was a groundbreaking step in overcoming poverty and ending the tyranny of low pay. When the NMW came into being, wages of as little as £1.20 an hour were common and legal – that’s just £1.38 an hour in today’s prices!

The minimum wage has both protected workers and raised living standards for the worst off in society. Its introduction was bitterly opposed by the Tories, but contrary to their predictions, the minimum wage has been a resounding economic success. As well as providing an increased incentive for getting back to work, it has resulted in firms being keener to invest in their employees.

The minimum wage has also created a more motivated and productive workforce. Since its introduction, the rate of the minimum wage has increased steadily, helping an increasing number of workers. The 2007 increase alone benefited over 70,000 earners in London.

But Conservative MPs have shown they want to put this all in jeopardy. It is difficult to imagine the last decade without the minimum wage, and the inroads the government has made into child poverty would have been impossible if it had not been in place. In the current situation, with individuals and families under increased economic pressure, the fact Conservatives politicians are considering such policies is baffling and seriously worrying. The last thing we need is a return of poverty pay.

Chuka will be joining in the celebrations surrounding the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States on Tuesday 20th January. In the morning, he will be appearing on the BBC News Channel between 11am and 12pm, along with other leading political figures. You can watch the BBC News Channel live here: BBC News Channel.

In the afternoon, Chuka will be paying a visit to Lambeth College’s Brixton Centre and speaking to staff and students there about the inauguration and British politics in general. The Brixton Centre is about to undergo a £50 million government funded investment programme to make it a state-of-the-art technology centre for construction, engineering and media skills training. To find out more about the Brixton Centre, visit the website: Lambeth College – Brixton Centre.

Chuka Umunna, Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate for Streatham, releases figures showing the number of people completing apprenticeships in Lambeth has risen by 256%.

This week, during his regional tour across England, Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced £140 million of extra funding for an additional 35,000 apprentices across the country in the next twelve months. The Government is already committed to increasing spending on apprentices in the next year to just under £1billion and this £140m is in addition to that and will expand the programme even further over the next twelve months.

Chuka Umunna, Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate for Streatham, has obtained the latest figures from the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, showing the number of people who completed an apprenticeship in Lambeth rose by 256% over the last three years from 36 in 2002/03 to 128 in 2005/06.

Umunna, has welcomed the latest funding boost which could see more apprenticeship places available for young people and adults in Lambeth. For many people an apprenticeship provides a high quality route into a skilled job and the additional funding will extend the opportunities so that even more people can benefit from on-the-job training in skilled professions.

Commenting on the figures, Umunna said:

“In the current economic downturn, it’s vital that we continue to invest in the economy and make sure people in Streatham and the rest of Lambeth have the skills they need to succeed in the future.

“Every month the need for more apprenticeships is raised with me by local residents, who remember apprentice schemes of times past.”

“In our area we’ve already seen a revival of apprenticeships with a 256% increase in just three years. The funding announced by Gordon Brown this week means we can have even more apprenticeships in the coming year.

John Denham MP, the Skills Secretary (right), with whom Umunna is speaking at a regional event in Southampton on 31 January 2009, added:

“This is an important initiative and is a further signal of our determination to give people the chance to get the practical training they need to get on and to help ensure the country has the skilled workers it needs to benefit from the upturn.”

Alan Ritchie, General Secretary of construction union UCATT, headquartered in Lambeth, said:

“In order to ensure Britain has the necessary skills for the future it is essential to properly train young workers now so that we avoid skills shortages which will prolong the recession and slow down economic recovery.”

For the latest news, information and events on apprenticeships, local people can log onto the Labour government’s Apprenticeships website: www.apprenticeships.org.uk

Last week the government annoucned it would expand the right to request flexible working, providing a boost for busy, hard-working families.

Currently, those with children under the age of six and parents of disabled children can request flexible working, but this right is now being extended to all parents with children under 16, covering an extra 4.5 million people.

Flexible working includes working from home, part-time work, compressed hours, flexi-time or other arrangements agreed with employers. It is designed to help families balance work and family life more easily, such as helping parents manage the school run and to spend more time with their kids.

The legislation is meant to benefit businesses as well as parents. Employers find they get the best out of employees when they allow them to work flexibly, being happier, more engaged and more productive. Evidence shows that over 90% of employers believe people are likely to work best when they can strike a good balance between work and family, and over 90% of workplaces who received requests for flexible working in the last year approved them all. Arrangements for flexible working are discussed and negotiated between the employee and employer, allowing both parties to appreciate eachother’s needs.

Chuka said: “This decision highlights the government’s desire to strengthen family life and support parents. I believe the dividends of this approach will help reduce crime and help forge stronger communities, by allowing parents the flexibility to give their children the best possible start in life.”

This year marks the tenth anniversary of Labour passing the National Minimum Wage Act.  It is one of our proudest achievements, having benefited millions of people – in my work as an employment lawyer I see the affect it has every working week.

Almost everyone who works in the UK is legally entitled to be paid the National Minimum Wage – that includes people employed permanently, by an agency, part-time workers, casual workers, or people on a short-term contract.

On Wednesday the national minimum wage will be increasing:

• for adults (which means people aged 22 and over), from £5.52 to £5.73 an hour;
• for workers aged 18-21 (the “development rate”), from £4.60 to £4.77 an hour;
• for young people (those older than school leaving age and younger than 18; you’re under school leaving age until the end of summer term of the school year in which you turn 16), from £3.40 to £3.53 an hour.

To find out more, click here: The National Minimum Wage

…this is the number of workers in London who stand to benefit from the National Minimum Wage (NMW) this year, which celebrated its 10th anniversary last month.

When the NMW came into being, wages of as little as £1.20 an hour were common and legal – that’s just £1.38 an hour in today’s prices!

I remember the Conservative Party and others strongly opposing the introduction of this measure. They said the NMW would cost the country 2 million jobs – in fact an extra 2.3 million jobs have actually been created since then.

To date nearly one million low paid employees, two thirds of them women, have benefited from the NMW and more continue to do so.  I know what a difference it makes because I regularly deal with NMW issues in my work as an employment lawyer. 

Presently the NMW rates are as follows:
Workers aged 22 and over – £5.52 per hour
Workers aged 18-21 – £4.60 per hour
Workers aged 16-17 – £3.40 per hour

From 1 October 2008 the NMW rates will increase as follows:
Workers aged 22 and over – £5.73 per hour
Workers aged 18-21 – £4.77 per hour
Workers aged 16-17 – £3.53 per hour

Labour is building on this and has recently announced that it intends to change the current NMW rules on tipping, to ensure that in future tips will be additional to the NWM. When we go to a restaurant or to have our hair cut in Streatham, Balham, Brixton, Clapham or Tulse Hill, and we leave a tip, we expect it to go to the staff member in addition to their pay, not to be processed through the payroll to make up the NMW – dealing with this is a matter of fairness and common sense in my view which is why we are taking action to outlaw this practice.

For more information on the NMW, click here.