DOES everyone have the right to a fair day's pay for a fair day's work? If they do, what is a fair day's pay?

James Dyson has announced that he is moving production of his vacuum cleaners to the Far East. It is a matter of simple economics. Staffing costs in Wiltshire, where his factory is, are £11.50 per hour, whereas in Malaysia they are £1.50 per hour. He fears that if he does not go for cheaper labour costs his company will founder with the loss of all the jobs.

He says that this has been an agonising decision. He doesn't want to let his present staff down, but he sees no alternative.

This is a very high profile case, but British industry is making this kind of decision every day. To put it bluntly, in a free market system, production goes to where labour is cheap.

But is £1.50 an hour a fair day's pay? It could be argued that in Malaysia it is. But why should people in the Third World have to put up with living at such a low economic level?

Surely what we should be arguing for is fair trade not free trade. We should be making sure that the things we buy are not produced by people who are being paid a starvation wage.

The Bible, and the scriptures of other religions, are quite clear. Not giving the labourer a fair wage is a great sin. As a sin it ranks with idolatry and all the other worst sins that can be imagined. God warns that his judgement will come on anyone who exploits the labourer.

What the world-wide faiths such as Christianity, Islam and Hinduism should be arguing for is more equity across the world. Disgustingly high salaries are sinful and very low wages are sinful. We should work towards much more equitable wage levels right across the world. The global village we now live in would be a much healthier place if there were more parity in wages.

One way of working for this would be to insist on fair trade agreements. The wealthier countries should be put into place systems to ensure that Third World workers are not being ripped off. Instead of paying Malaysian workers a starvation wage, we should insist that they be paid a fair wage. This is a good reason to support Bolton becoming a Fair Trade town. .

Michael Williams

Vicar of Bolton Parish Church