Nine thousand workers across Caerphilly County Borough are paid less than the living wage of £7.85 per hour.
Statistics released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that 19% of all jobs in the borough do not pay a wage recognised as the minimum needed to live on.
Across the UK almost 30% of private sector jobs pay less than the minimum wage, compared with under 10% in the public sector.
The statistics come a week after the Wales TUC called for more well-paid jobs in the South Wales Valleys.
Meanwhile, South East Wales AM Lindsay Whittle hit out at Labour and Tory AMs for refusing to back his appeal to ban zero hour contracts for social care workers.
He wanted to add the clause into the Regulation and Inspection of Social Services Bill but his amendment was voted down by the Health and Social Care Committee.
Mr Whittle, who is also a Caerphilly County Borough Councillor, representing Penyrheol, said: “Jeremy Corbyn made promises on zero hour contracts during his campaign but, here in Cardiff Bay, the Welsh Labour Government does nothing.
“They opposed this sensible amendment joining Tory Assembly Members. These contracts are exploitative and should be outlawed in the social care sector. It has been estimated by the Labour Party itself that one in five social care workers are on zero hour contracts.
“The Welsh Government has it in its power the ability to change commissioning practices to stop zero hour contracts so it is truly frustrating that the government continues not to do so despite several attempts by Plaid Cymru to ban them.”
Typical of Labour, all promise no performance. Why do they think people like my grandparents founded the Labour Party, it was to help the working class and the poor. Something these modern day activists and politicians like Corbyn seem to forget, being more concerned with being politically correct.
All political parties in the Assembly need to look nearer to home.
It is a fact that Contractors providing services in the Assembly and Welsh Office Buildings in Cardiff, contracts over which the Assembly have total power in awarding, employ Zero hours contract for their staff, and most also pay the basic minimum wage for the privilage of working on zero hours employment contracts.
Assembly Politicians have the power to ensure that any contract it awards contains whatever employment conditions it wants to, or, the contract is NOT awarded. Not exactly brain science.
Nobody will bother themselves to ask these 9000 workers if they are actually happy with their level of pay and contract, some prefer to be on a zero hours contract as it suits both employer and employee – as one of the 9000 myself I know very well that my employer can not possibly afford to pay me £7.85 an hour I’d rather be on low pay than no pay, and I’m sure most employers are in the same situation – except the bloated public sector, they don’t need to turn a profit to pay the people who are on their payroll.