The Government yesterday announced the names of the eight people who will sit on the Low Pay Commission, which will recommend a minimum wage.
The list includes three union officials, two academics and a member of the main bosses' organisation.
Trade President Margaret Beckett said the minimum wage was one of the Government's top priorities, and would ensure minimum standards for workers.
The eight people are: David Metcalf, professor of economics and the London School of Economics; Stephanie Monk, director of human resources at the Granada Group; Paul Gates, general secretary of the Knitwear, Footwear and Apparel Trades Union; John Cridland, director of human resources policy for the Confederation of British Industry; Rita Donaghy, an official of Unison; Lawrence Dewar, chief executive of the Scottish Grocers' Federation; Bill Call-aghan, head of economic and social affairs at the TUC, and William Brown, Professor of Industrial Relations at Cambridge University.
More than 500 people applied for the unpaid job of a member of the commission, which is expected to recommend an hourly rate next year after taking evidence from both sides of industry.
The commission is smaller than had been expected, but includes representatives of all sides of industry.
But Shadow President of the Board of Trade John Redwood said: ''The membership of the Low Pay Commission is unbalanced and unrepresentative. It is stuffed with trade unionists, academics and personnel officers. I am particularly worried that small business has not been properly represented.''
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