By Torcuil Crichton
Daily Record
"The millionaire Tory Chancellor, christened Gideon, will hand a windfall to fat-cats earning more than £150,000 a year by slashing the top rate of tax from 50p to 45p in tomorrow’s (Wed 21 Mar) Budget.
But he has frozen the minimum wage for 16 and 17-year-olds at a paltry £3.68 an hour. And young workers aged 18 to 20 will get no rise in their £4.98 rate.
Adult workers will get a rise of just 11p an hour to £6.19. That’s a 1.8 per cent increase – half the current rate of inflation.
The rate for apprentices will rise by 5p – to £2.65 an hour.
It’s the first time since the minimum wage was introduced in 1998 that it has not risen by above inflation. Young workers have also seen a rise each year.
Some observers fear yesterday’s decisions are the thin end of the wedge, and that the Con-Dems will eventually undermine the minimum wage."
See more of this story at http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics-news/2012/03/20/budget-2012-young-scots-on-minimum-wage-to-have-pay-frozen-as-george-osborne-gives-rich-a-tax-cut-86908-23795027/
See UNISON's alternative budget for UK here with Monday's news release:
http://unison-scotland.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/unison-time-to-kick-start-economy.html
Check back on this blog for UNISON Scotland comment on today's Budget.
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