Union leaders have urged the Government to introduce a minimum wage for teenage workers in a bid to drive out wages as low as £1 an hour.
An announcement is expected soon on increases to the present £4.20 an hour adult rate and £3.60 an hour youth rate.
Workers under the age of 18 are not covered by the minimum wage but the TUC yesterday called for that to change.
A report to the TUC Young Members Forum in Lincolnshire said that even a "modest" rate of £3 an hour would increase the pay of 65,000 workers aged 16 or 17.
A rate of £3.60 an hour would give a pay rise to 290,000 young people, the TUC estimated.
TUC general secretary- elect Brendan Barber said: "A Government report from two years ago said the days of employers paying workers £1 or £2 an hour were gone.
"But there are still reports of 16 and 17-year-olds being exploited in this way. Without an enforceable minimum wage, they have nowhere to turn."
Friday March 14 2003
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