London Living Wage to be implemented for Barnet Council staff

London Living Wage to be implemented for Barnet Council staff

In the same Barnet Press article it reports:

“Mr Cornelius also said that salaries of the remaining in-house employees would be brought up to the living wage, which in London is £8.55 an hour, £2.36 above the national minimum wage.”

This is a GOOD NEWS story for all workers working for Barnet and earning less than the Living Wage.

Four years ago our branch tried to convince the Council that staff working for private contractors (at this time it was cleaners) should be on the London Living Wage. UNISON took the matter to the then Leader of the Council Mike Freer. A promise was made to look into the issue but nothing was done. At the time no council staff were earning less than the London Living Wage.

But now, four years on nearly a thousand workers are earning less than the London Living Wage.

You can read the details in a report going to the Remuneration Committee on 14 October 2013 see HERE

This is clear evidence of how fast the cost of living crisis and freeze on pay has impacted on the lives of council workers. In the Council report it states

“3. CORPORATE PRIORITIES AND POLICY CONSIDERATIONS

3.1. The Council believes that no-one should do a hard day’s work for less than they can live on, and that all our staff deserve to be paid at least the Living Wage. Council considers that if everyone in London on low pay were paid at least the living wage it could potentially save the government money by increasing the tax base and reducing spend on welfare benefits.

3.2. In addition, the Council believes that the added benefit to the Council of paying at least the living wage include increased productivity and lower staff turnover, which would reduce recruitment costs.”

It is our view that all employers who currently pay their staff below the London Living Wage should recognise the benefits and make plans to adopt the above statement.

Our branch will be writing to all of the employers delivering public services in Barnet to join Barnet Council implement the London Living Wage. We will be asking the Council to work with UNISON to ensure contractors for example cleaning service are all paid the London Living Wage.

If you have never heard about the London Living Wage and want to know more read here