MORE than half of retail workers have seen their pay stay the same or decrease in spite of the Tories’ so-called living wage, a survey unveiled at Usdaw conference yesterday suggests.

Almost a quarter (22 per cent) of respondents to a survey carried out by the shop workers’ union said they were receiving some sort of state benefits to top up their pay.

The conference heard calls for “more prosecutions and bigger fines” to tackle unscrupulous bosses and the union reaffirmed its support for a £10 an hour baseline rate — which is now Labour Party policy.