Plaid Cymru Gwynedd welcomes the recent announcement of an agreement on increases in Local Government employees' wages. This means that Gwynedd Council employees will receive a national living wage or more from 1 of April 2018.
Plaid Cymru Gwynedd groups has, in recent years, been working to ensure a fair pay for the workforce, eliminating the two lowest points (point 6 and 7) in the staff salary structure. As a result the lowest paid wage will rise from £7.90 to £8.62 per hour from 1 of April 2018 and from April 2019 onwards the lowest paid wage will increase to £9.18 per hour.
Plaid Cymru's Gwynedd Leader Dyfrig Siencyn said: “Adjusting the structure of employment salaries is a complex process, and we have been working to address this positive move to improve the employment of our low paid workers over a number of years.
“We have a strong, active workforce committed to delivering quality services to Gwynedd residents. I'm pleased to be able to announce today that a huge majority of Gwynedd Council staff will now receive a national living wage.”
“We work in a challenging financial environment, with increasing pressures coming to the whole Council budget, from the Tories in London and the Labour party in Cardiff. But Plaid Cymru is determined to improve the pay of staff on the lower scale of our workforce salaries who work tirelessly in different sectors across the county.
“This announcement is good news for many of our staff who work in roles such as cleaning, kitchen assistants and casual care roles. Any improvement that we can offer to staff salaries shows our commitment as an employer to improve quality of life and confirm that a good day’s work deserves a fair pay.”
Plaid Cymru's Assembly Member for Arfon, Siân Gwenllian, said: “I'm proud to have played a role in this development. Back in 2014, as a Gwynedd Council member, I began the work to improve Gwynedd staff salaries. After I moved to the Assembly to work on a national level to progress this issue, I take pride in the fact that change is now happening and more employees on the lowest scale will now receive a national living wage. It is a sign of social justice and respect that workers throughout Gwynedd receive a fair wage.”
Through careful planning, Gwynedd Council has already allocated £2million in this year’s financial budget to meet the salary increase.
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