London Living Wage increase confirmed

Boris Johnson has announced a slight rise in the level of the London Living Wage, which increases by 15p to £7.60 per hour.

The Living Wage is paid to all employees of the Greater London Authority, the increase will also be paid to all staff employed under new contractor contracts such as caterers, security guards and cleaners.

Speaking on Friday Mayor Johnson said: “During these testing times it is vital that we invest in order to pay Londoners a fair and decent wage. A London Living Wage is not just morally right but it makes commercial sense as all businesses need good, willing and motivated workers to support them through the recession and onto greater prosperity when the upturn comes. It also brings wider social benefits, tackling poverty, making work pay, and improving the quality of life for families.”

Welcoming the increase, Green Party Assembly Member Darren Johnson has called on the Mayor to do more to persuade London’s councils to adopt the Living Wage. In March a Freedom of Information request by the Greens revealed that only four boroughs have incorporated the requirement to pay the LLW into their procurement policies.

Darren Johnson said: “If all Londoners are to get a fair pay deal, then we need to start by getting our local governments to implement the Living Wage to all their workers and contractors. It is a disgrace that only a few London councils have policies that safeguard their whole workforce from poverty wages. London councils should follow the examples of Transport for London, London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority and the Greater London Authority in adopting a Living Wage policy and ensuring quality of life for all staff, including contract staff. ”

“In a recession it is all to easy for councils and contractors to make savings by paying workers the national minimum wage, but in London the minimum wage is no better than poverty pay. I have called on the London Mayor to encourage local London councils to implement a Living Wage policy for all their workers, include contract workers.”