Wales is a low-pay hotspot, first minister tells unions

First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth has said his government will fight to reverse Wales' status as a low-pay nation in a speech to trade unions.

The Plaid Cymru leader chose to make TUC Cymru's annual congress his first public engagement as first minister, where he committed to working with unions as he rolls out his party's plans in government.

Ap Iorwerth already faces demands for better pay from some of Wales' unions, particularly in the NHS.

He told the conference in Llandudno on Thursday that the values of their movement had been "embedded in the programme we've been elected to deliver", and promised to attract new businesses in order to provide good jobs.

Speaking to an audience of largely Labour-supporting unions, the first minister revealed he is still a member of the National Union of Journalists and has taken part in strike action in the past.

"The trade union movement understands workers better than any policymakers," the former BBC Wales journalist said at the event for TUC Cymru, the organisation which represents trade unions.

A 2025 Office for National Statistic survey estimated the median gross weekly pay for adults in full-time work in Wales was £704 - the third lowest in a table which included the UK as a whole, Wales, Scotland and nine English regions.

Only the North East of England (£681) and the East Midlands (£703) had lower median earnings.

For public sector worker pay, Wales came eighth out of the 12 countries and regions at £767 per week.

The Plaid Welsh government is in charge of pay reviews in some of the public services it controls, such as education and health, and likely faces negotiations with unions that ap Iorwerth will have addressed at the event.

Public workers union Unison demanded that the new health minister Mabon ap Gwynfor prioritises pay for NHS staff shortly after the 7 May Senedd election.

The union said there was "real anger among NHS staff who feel let down yet again by the latest pay award," and that a 3.3% pay rise for staff "simply isn't enough after years of falling pay".

Meanwhile the Unite union has called for ap Iorwerth to resolve a dispute within Cwm Taf Morgannwg health board, where health visitors went on strike over pay this week.

The first minister told the conference that there was "little" that could be done to address "global headwinds" from Ukraine and Iran causing a rise in costs and bills, put promised to "redouble efforts to protect workers' rights and create high-skilled, well-paid jobs here at home".

"With no let-up in food inflation and energy prices, we must do more to redress Wales' dishonourable status as a low-pay hotspot," he said.

"With Wales among the lower-earning nations and regions of the UK, I hope that our pledges to extend free school meals, introduce the most generous childcare offer anywhere in these islands, and pilot a Welsh child payment will help those households experiencing in-work poverty."

Ap Iorwerth promised that the share of contracts from public bodies to companies in Wales will increase from around 55% to at least 70%, something that had the potential to create "tens of thousands of new jobs".

Plaid's plan for a National Development Agency would also "attract good jobs", he said.

In the Senedd on Tuesday, former TUC Cymru president and newly-elected Senedd member Shavanah Taj challenged the first minister on whether he would commit to better pay in schools.

"Hard-working school support staff are still only paid during term time," the Labour MS for Caerdydd Ffynnon Taf said, raising an issue her party had promised to address at the election.

Without committing either way, ap Iorwerth responded that "everyone, I think, would sympathise" with the issue.