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Johnstone secures fair work win

Scottish Greens Parliamentary Co-Leader Alison Johnstone MSP has this afternoon won the support of the Scottish Parliament to improve Scotland’s approach to fair work.

In the amendment, which won the overwhelming support of MSPs, Alison welcomed the Scottish Government’s commitment to apply fair work criteria to every type of grant, funding stream and business support programme, a measure the Greens have campaigned for over many years.

Ms Johnstone also welcomed its commitment to add environmental impact as a key element of the business pledge, and called on the Scottish Government to publish detailed proposals on how it will implement these actions before the summer.

Alison Johnstone MSP said:

“Greens have persistently called for government business support services, like grants and loans, to apply ethical criteria such as the payment of the real living wage and trade union recognition.

“We recognise that there is still some way to travel on the fair work journey, and this is made more difficult with the limited powers available to the Scottish Parliament. However, I welcome the Scottish Government’s commitment today that it will act on many of our long-standing concerns, and I am grateful to parliament for backing my amendment today, which will see Ministers, held to account on these pledges.

“We must continue moving forward, at a time when zero hours contacts are prevalent among young people and where some employers remain resistant to paying the real living wage. A woman’s earnings over her lifetime are only too likely to be lower than her male colleagues, and this must remain a key focus.

“It is clear that while the government is making progress on the fair work agenda, there is still much more that remains to be done. Everyone deserves to be paid a fair wage that lifts them out of poverty and no one should be paid less because of their gender.”