This is a welcome milestone for the movement in Wales and sees another anchor institution within Cardiff making their public commitment and further driving the capital’s Living Wage City ambitions.
Employers choose to pay the Real Living Wage on a voluntary basis and it differs from the National Living Wage in that it is independently calculated based on the true cost of living for employees and their families. NLW has recently gone up to £8.91 and included anybody over 23 but the Real Living Wage remains the only rate to truly be enough to live on and includes anybody over the age of 18.
The commitment by Wales Millennium Centre means that everyone working for the organisation receives the Real Living Wage, regardless of whether they are directly employed or a regularly contracted member of staff. They have been paying this rate since 2019 but by becoming accredited they are publicly committing to adhering to annual recalculations and promoting Living Wage Principles on-site and within the community.
“Although we have been paying the Real Living Wage since 1 April 2019 we are very proud to become accredited as a real Living Wage employer. Through accreditation, we are making our commitment to the annual increase in the real Living Wage and will be promoting the real Living Wage to our on-site contractors and in our community. We are delighted to be joining a network of other employers that believe in a wage that meets everyday needs.”
Sian Ropaigealach, HR Project Manager, Wales Millennium Centre
“We would like to acknowledge and give thanks to those at Wales Millennium Centre who put in the work to make this happen. We look forward to working with WMC as members of our network and key employer in making Cardiff a Living Wage City. We hope that this accreditation will inspire other employers in the arts and in other sectors in Wales to look into accreditation and the benefits this has for employees and the organisation”
Sarah Hopkins Director Cynnal Cymru, Accrediting body in Wales
“We are delighted to celebrate the accreditation of Wales Millennium Centre as the 300th Living Wage employer in Wales – it has been a long drama, but it gets a standing ovation from us! Five years ago young people in Butetown and Grangetown like me identified a lack of representation of people who looked like us in the workforce of major organisations in Cardiff Bay. We asked employers, like Wales Millennium Centre, to sign the ‘Community Jobs Compact’ – committing them to fair recruitment through name-blind and address-blind recruitment processes; to fair career development opportunities through stable contracts and mentoring; and to fair wages, by accrediting as a Living Wage employer. In Mathew Milsom, Managing Director of Wales Millennium Centre, we found an ally who quickly ensured fair recruitment processes and fair career development opportunities – and has now completed all aspects of the Community Jobs Compact. Local people of all backgrounds should know that if they apply for a job at Wales Millennium Centre, they will get a fair shot at the role, good development opportunities, and the Real Living Wage of £9.50 an hour. We call on other Cardiff employers to follow their example and build back better out of Covid by accrediting as a Living Wage employer and signing the Community Jobs Compact.”
Nirushan Sudarsan, a leader from Cardiff Citizens
Cardiff’s Living Wage City Ambitions
Cardiff has ambitions to become a ‘Living Wage City’. A group of prominent Cardiff employers joined forces to form the Cardiff Living Wage Action Group and in 2019 launched their 3-year action plan to begin ‘Making Cardiff a Living Wage City’.
Action Plan includes:
• Increasing the number of accredited Living Wage employers to 150 by 2022.
• Increasing the number of people working for accredited Living Wage employers to 48,000 by 2022.
• Encouraging major employers, iconic employers and ‘anchor’ organisations in Cardiff to become accredited Living Wage employers.
• Supporting small businesses to accredit through the Council’s Living Wage Accreditation Support Scheme.
There are already over 125 Cardiff Living Wage employers signed up to the scheme including Cardiff Council, Cardiff University, Cardiff Metropolitan University, University of South Wales, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, Capital Law, Knox and Wells, Wales and West Housing, Welsh Government, Cardiff and Vale Credit Union, and most recently Ffilm Cymru.
Councillor Huw Thomas, Leader of Cardiff Council said:
“Wales Millennium Centre is an instantly recognisable sight in the capital city and how fitting that an organisation based in such an iconic landmark should become Wales’ 300th Living Wage employer.“
“The Living Wage City Steering Group, the Council-led forum which drives the Living Wage agenda in Cardiff, has been working with WMC for some time to achieve this and we are thrilled to have them on board, joining more than 125 other accredited Living Wage employers in the city.“
“As we focus on our economy reopening and the city recovering from the impact of the past year, we’re keen for that number to keep growing and can help organisations to become accredited via our Living Wage Accreditation Support Scheme for SMEs. We encourage employers to find out about the difference accreditation can make to their business and their business’s reputation by visiting www.cardiff.gov.uk/LivingWage”