The Green Party have backed calls for Lichfield District Council to give employees the living wage.
The opposition Labour group at the local authority have previously accused the ruling Conservatives of ignoring calls to discuss the proposals with workers.
But council leader Mike Wilcox insisted the time wasn’t right to make any changes.
Lichfield and Burntwood Green Party branch spokesman Simon Partridge says all employees should be entitled to the living wage.
“We support the living wage for all workers, it was a main stay of our 2015 general election manifesto,” he said. “We would have raised the rate considerably higher than the Conservatives plan to.
“The Green Party believes that people shouldn’t be dependent on the government to subsidy their wages, so they can afford to eat and pay their rent.”
Lichfield District Council’s Conservative leader Mike Wilcox said the number of employees affected and national plans on the horizon meant it made no sense to make the change at this stage.
“The Government are introducing new living wage from next year and there’s only a small amount of people not already above that level who are with us,” he said.
“It is such a small number affected, that before too long I anticipate that everyone will be above that anyway.
“We would be doubling up the work to do it now and then do it again next year.”