In March last year, I was elected the Arts and Media Officer for the Students' Union and on my manifesto was to fight for Salford students to be paid a fair, living wage. I’m incredibly proud to go to an institution that pays its students a living wage through Unitemps, however disappointed that my Students' Union, which I love, doesn’t pay the Living Wage to our students and to its members. I believe that the living wage has become incredibly important over the last 7 years, bursary’s being cut and removed, grants disappearing, students are being left with less and less in their pockets every academic year. Accompanying this with rise in living costs, inflation, student accommodation costs and for those students who can’t rely on the Bank of mum and dad, being able to stay at University for the full 3 years has become an obstacle in itself.

The Living Wage is set by the Living Wage foundation which is a charity that works with employers to implement the Living Wage, £8.75. Unlike arbitrary figures made up by the Government, this figure is heavily researched throughout the year by independent financial researchers and they pay close attention to inflation, living costs, the housing market and other financial factors. 

I’ve been campaigning to bring the Living Wage to Salford Students' Union. Doing this would better equip our students to comfortably study at Salford and not have to rely on working additional jobs or an excess amount of hours, meaning more time for studying and less time struggling. The University would also view this move as a positive, our credibility with the University would improve massively as it would with the local Council and tens of other local businesses across Salford.

I’ve received some concerns about this from students and I have promised them, I will be fighting to get the best deal for all Salford students, on both sides of our bar. After its successful implementation, I will be moving forward to work with students who do not work on campus to ensure they are best equipped to fight for the Living Wage where they work, because I strongly believe that everyone should be paid the living wage. The Living Wage should be for the many and not the few.