Two employees working in Derry have said that working in jobs that pays less than £5-per-hour is leaving people feeling "demoralised" and turning to foodbanks.
The two workers, who remain unnamed, were speaking at a recent meeting of the Derry City and Strabane District Council.
At the meeting, elected representatives heard from the young people who earned just £4.62 an hour in the hospitality and retail sectors.
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The special meeting was called to discuss the results of the Derry Trade Unions Council Local Workers Survey.
Feedback from the survey of 360 workers found 35% do not earn more than the minimum wage and 73% struggle with bills.
One worker, who worked in the retail sector, said that felt like she was being "exploited".
She told councillors: “Families in Derry are struggling, working people are suffering and the young people of Derry need help.
"We need a pay rise, we feel we are worth more than £4.62 an hour, why can we not earn the top minimum wage of £8.91, we work just as hard as someone aged 22?
"I have to get taxis to and from work which is a round trip fare of £14. It takes me three hours at work to pay for my travel to and from work with my shifts being on average between seven and nine hours long.”
Meanwhile, another young hospitality employee said her previous experience of working in the city provided a "cold reality check" for the young people.
She added: “I was paid £4.62 an hour with no sick pay protections and no holiday pay.
"I am employed on a zero-hours contract with no guaranteed hours.
"I have been sent home early from work by my boss if the shift is quiet so even though I have been offered an eight-hour shift I have only got paid for five or six hours.”
“My friends and I want a future that is full of hope but our experiences of local work have been a cold reality check of the struggles of working people.”
People Before Profit Councillor, Shaun Harkin, said: “I think it is a disgrace that anyone in this city is getting paid less than £5 an hour and I don’t care what age they are.
"73% of people struggle to pay their bills, that is shocking and it should shock the council into action on behalf of the workers in this district and the least well off.”
Cllr Harkin proposed that the local authority 'initiate some research into pay scales across the hospitality sector, the retail sector and the community sector' as a motion at the next meeting.
The Mayor, Alderman Graham Warke agreed to hear the motion at the next full council meeting on March 31.
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