Bridgend Shaw Trust

I recently visited the Shaw Trust offices in Wyndham Street to see at first hand how the charity is helping hundreds of local people find work.

The Shaw Trust is a national charity that provides training and work opportunities for people who are disadvantaged in the labour market due to disability, ill health or other social circumstances. They are the largest UK provider of employment services for disabled people.

Only around half of disabled people of working age are in work. Thanks to the Shaw Trust’s support and guidance, many local people have been able to find new opportunities and employment they were previously denied.

In Bridgend, the Shaw Trust plays a vital role in providing a wide range of projects ranging from IT training, personal development courses, work placement schemes to sessions aimed at building self confidence.

It was extremely beneficial to have been able to meet with staff to learn more about the work of the Trust and the challenges that they face on a day to day basis.

Rise in National Minimum Wage is a victory for women

A rise in the National Minimum Wage will benefit Bridgend’s lowest paid workers, and women especially.

More than 50,000 Welsh workers will benefit from a rise in the National Minimum Wage from £5.35 to £5.52 an hour from October this year.

This is a victory for Welsh workers. For the past 10 years Labour has worked hard to increase the wage for Wales’ lowest paid workers. Just 10 years ago, some workers were being paid only £1.30 an hour.

Labour appreciates Bridgend’s hard workers and starting this October, no adult over 21 will be paid less than £5.52 an hour. This is especially good news for part time workers - most of whom are women.

Thanks to Labour’s minimum wage increase and the strong Welsh economy, Bridgend workers and their families will not have to struggle to survive. Labour continues to put Bridgend’s people’s welfare at the forefront.’’

The Tories in Parliament opposed the minimum wage. The Liberal Democrats want to vary the level of the minimum wage depending on where you live in the UK, which would punish hardworking Bridgend people. Plaid Cymru's MP's couldn't even be bothered to turn up to vote for the minimum wage.

Yesterday’s announcement means the minimum wage has gone up by almost 30% more than inflation since it was introduced in 1999, with the number of jobs increasing by 130,000 across Wales in the same time.

Since October last year the minimum wage for adults, combined with Working Tax credits and other benefits, has guaranteed an income of at least £268 a week for families with one child and one full-time worker.

Labour to deliver world's best workers for Welsh firms

Labour will deliver the best skilled workers for Welsh firms if it wins May's Assembly election.

As part of its mission to help Bridgend meet the challenges of globalisation, Labour is promising to establish Skills Academies, to provide Bridgend’s industries with the access to excellence in training and learning needed to compete in a global economy.

It is essential that we improve the skills and qualifications of the workforce in Wales so that we can keep our economy growing. This will mean building upon links between local employers and skills training.

Labour is committed to ensuring that everyone in Bridgend is able to learn new skills no matter their age or social background.

Workplace learning is vital in boosting the prosperity of our nation. We are lucky in Bridgend that our key employers are progressive - committed not only to creating more wealth, but also in the wellbeing and future of their workers.

Labour wants to harness the very best teaching provision in Wales and match it with the very best in business innovation.

In the global economy, Labour believes it is our duty to face up to modern challenges, seizing them as opportunities, not hiding away from them as threats. In a world where consumers and business can choose to source their goods from anywhere on the planet, firms based in Bridgend must have the ability to compete with the very best. This means competing on skills, not on low wages.

Wales can lead the world on cutting-edge knowledge work, and Labour's innovative Skills Academies will help make our industries more competitive.