Dundee councillor Kevin Keenan has called on First Minister Alex Salmond to do more for Dundee’s workers after statistics revealed the city’s employees are among the worst-paid in Scotland.
According to the figures, for all full-time employees in 2012, Dundee is either the lowest or second lowest in Scotland whether it is measured by gross weekly pay, annual pay or hourly pay.
Both men and women are earning less than the same figures for last year, the Office of National Statistics figures reveal.
Full-time male employees in Dundee are also the second lowest paid in the country, while for women, only three areas in Scotland have lower wages than Dundee.
Median (middle range) gross annual pay across the four main cities has Aberdeen-based workers at the top, earning £28,573, with Edinburgh a close second on £28,471.
Glasgow comes next on £24,477, while Dundee workers earn £21,904.
The median wage in Scotland is £25,960, while workers in Angus receive £24,265, Fife £25,792 and Perth & Kinross £26,064.
Across the country only Dumfries and Galloway has a lower figure than Dundee at £21,798.
The median figures for full-time male employees has Dundee men earning £23,288, down from £24,344 last year.
Aberdeen males are again at the top with £31,169, Edinburgh £30,000 and Glasgow £26,663, compared to a Scottish-wide figure of £28,024.
In Angus, male employees get £27,172, in Fife it is £28,487 and Perth & Kinross £27,404.
Median gross annual pay for women in Dundee is £19,740, whereas Edinburgh is top for females at £26,678. In Aberdeen it is £24,831, Glasgow £22,308, Angus £22,658, Fife £20,963, Perth & Kinross £22,257 and Scotland-wide it is £22,708.
In terms of the gender gap, women in Dundee earn only 85% of their male counterparts, up from 84% a year ago.
The overall figures, similar to last year’s statistics, have been condemned by Labour group leader Councillor Kevin Keenan.
He said: ”Lower wages are bad for Dundee’s economy. They reduce the money spent in local shops, and on local firms and services, particularly amongst small private sector businesses, putting jobs there at risk.
”The Scottish Government needs to produce more than a Memorandum of Understanding on jobs for Dundee containing the First Minister’s signature. This is a poor compensation for good, well-paid jobs.”
Dundee Labour councillor Lesley Brennan, an economist, said: ”Over 40 years since the Equal Pay Act was introduced, on the whole, women in full time employment in Dundee are now earning around £3,500 a year less than their male counterparts. That difference is 15%.
”Ironically, the difference has declined slightly in the past year, but only because men’s pay fell further than women’s pay did.”