Councillors voted in favour of Kirklees Council paying the ‘living wage’ to low-paid staff.
The council will now move towards offering its staff the £7.65 per hour minimum.
A motion, submitted by the Kirklees Labour Party, won the support of the Lib Dems, Greens and Independents.
Clr Karen Rowling (Lab Dewsbury West) said: “Britain is currently in the middle of a cost of living crisis.
“It is a fact that the lowest paid workers in our society are amongst the ones finding it the hardest to cope and we, as a council, have a duty to redress that balance and to implement the living wage for our lowest paid workers and to pay them a salary that rewards their hard work and allows them to live with dignity.”
She spoke of increasing utility bills, childcare fees rising and the growing demand for foodbanks.
Clr Rowling added: “Our neighbouring councils of Wakefield, Calderdale, Barnsley, Doncaster, Rochdale, Hull, York and Sheffield, have all either implemented the living wage or are planning to do so in the next financial year and it is time that Kirklees followed suit.
“Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing is looking to approve the increase at their next board meeting and our University and college have already adopted it.
“If we start paying it then we can encourage other employers in the district to do the same.”
The motion pledges Kirklees will move towards a living wage for council staff and contractors, although final details are yet to be announced.
It’s likely around 1,800 members of staff could be in line for a rise.
The Government has recently announced a rise in the national minimum wage to £6.50 per hour but Clr Rowling described it as a “slap in the face.”
She added: “This is far below the rate set by the Living Wage Foundation which calculates the wage required to fund the basic cost of living.
“We already have some of the highest areas of deprivation in the country within Kirklees.
“I was very proud to move this motion and to support the 1,800 council employees who will benefit from this rise.”
The Conservative amendment said such a policy would “transfer the power to vary wage rates for Kirklees staff and our contractors to an unaccountable national body which has neither concern nor interest in the issues that impact on democratic decision-making in Kirklees.
It also said the cost had not been fully assessed.
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