UNISON urges vigilance as new minimum wages rates are due

The new national minimum wage rates are set to rise from 1 April – and two decades after UNISON was instrumental in the creation of the wage, the union is urging activists to make sure that employers are paying what they should be.

The government rebranded the top level of the national minimum wage as the ‘living wage’ in 2016, but this is not to be confused with the living wage, as set by the Living Wage Foundation, an independent organisation that campaigns for a living wage based on the cost of living.

From 1 April, the national minimum wage will rise from:

• £7.83 to £8.21 for workers aged 25 and above;
• £7.38 to £7.70 for workers aged 21-24;
• £6.15 for workers aged 18-20;
• £4.35 for workers aged 16-17;
• £3.90 for apprentices aged under 19 or in the first year of their apprenticeship.

Find out more about the national minimum wage and about bargaining for the living wage.