Morning:
14°c
Councils snub Mayor's £7.45 minimum wage
Katharine Barney06.03.09
Only four London councils have agreed to pay their staff the Mayor's increased minimum wage - the London Living Wage - it was revealed today.
A survey found that the £7.45 an hour figure was only included in the official policies of Ealing, Lewisham, Southwark and Tower Hamlets councils. All but Ealing also apply it to contractors.
There is a national minimum wage of £5.73 but unions said that was not enough to live on in London and Boris Johnson introduced the new figure in July.
The survey was conducted by Green Party member of the London Assembly, Darren Johnson, who said: "It is a disgrace that only a few London councils have policies that safeguard their employees from poverty wages.
"I will be calling on the Mayor to encourage local London councils to implement a Living Wage policy for all their workers."
But a spokesman for London Councils which represents the 32 boroughs said: "Introducing the London Living Wage in organisations as structurally and politically complex as a London borough is a major undertaking."
A separate Evening Standard survey revealed more than 1,000 council workers had either lost their jobs or would do so in the next year and that last year 400 council workers in London earned more than £100,000.
Reader views (5)
Duncan Walker - what is your point exactly? One of these councils is Labour run and two other are hung councils with Labour majorities. Labour introduced the minimum wage back in 1997, whilst the conservatives opposed it!!
- Keith Grey, North London
So Boris has no clout as mayor. I think we all knew that when he got himself elected
- Keith Price, Luton, England
The idea of bringing in immigrants is to have a supply of cheap labour, not pay them £7.45 per hour.
- John, London
I bet none of those tight fisted councils that pay starvation wages; snubbed the council tax increases; or refused to implement the governments recommended rent increases.
- Mickyinlondon, london
I would love to see any of the Nu Lab clowns survive in London on 7.45 an hour In fact I think all MPs should be made to survive on just that for 6 months to let them see exactly what its like in the real world!
- Duncan Walker, Ex Peckham now Thailand
