Limerick bar and brewery urges other businesses to become living wage employers

A LIMERICK microbrewery and bar are urging all employers to implement a living wage for their employees.

Crew Brewing, on Thomas Street in the city, posted their message on X (formerly known as Twitter) in the wake of the the Living Wage Technical Group's (LWTG) announcement that the new Living Wage for the Republic of Ireland has been calculated at €14.80 per hour for 2023/24.

The rate calculated by the LWTG is based on living costs, thanks to research undertaken by the Vincentian MESL Research Centre at St Vincent de Paul.

"As is the case every year we'll take the announcement of the new living wage pay rate as an opportunity to urge businesses to become living wage employers," Crew Brewing said in their post on September 27 after the announcement by the LWTG.

"Pay must keep pace with cost of living. Happy pay rise day to our team."

Jono Crute, one of the owners of Crew Brewing, said that paying a living wage is "just built into the cost of doing things" for them.

"If we can't afford to do that, then we need to change our way of functioning or we need to close the business, there's no morally upright way to run a business that doesn't do that," he said.

As is the case every year we'll take the announcement of the new living wage pay rate as an opportunity to urge businesses to become living wage employers and urge workers to organise for better wages. Pay must keep pace with cost of living. Happy pay rise day to our team https://t.co/jryD9fcHGx

— Crew Brewing Co. (@crewbrewco) September 27, 2023

Aldi has also committed to paying its staff a living wage, announcing that it will be “fully adopting” the recommendations of the LWTG.

"Hourly paid colleagues across the business will benefit from this, which will see the starting rate for store assistants and selectors increase to €14.80 per hour," said Niall O’Connor, Aldi Ireland group managing director.

"Pay scales for our more experienced colleagues will be reviewed in our annual pay review in January in light of our continuing commitment to the Living Wage, and all changes will be implemented from February 2024."

"This decision demonstrates our commitment to valuing and supporting our workforce," he continued.

Lidl have also announced that they will adopt the living wage rate recommended by the LWTG from March 1, 2024.

Currently the statutory minimum wage in Ireland is €11.30 per hour. The government has announced that a national living wage will replace this from 2026. The living wage will be set at 60% of the median wage in any given year.

Increased figure for Living Wage to match cost of living rises revealed

The national minimum wage will remain in place until the 60% living wage is fully phased in and is set increase over the years as usual.

Jono however sees the 60% median as a "significantly worse way" of calculating a living wage.

"The LWTG base their rate on calculations of the actual costs of things, rather than just picking a random number and making an X percent of, of whatever. So looking through how much it costs people to live and eat and enjoy themselves seems to make more sense to produce a living wage than making it a percentage of the average," he said.

"Working or not working, it applies everyone, but certainly anybody who's working deserves to have a comfortable and enjoyable life."