Boff calls on Boris to take Council to task over London Living Wage

Hackney: Land of the Living Wage? London Assembly Member Andrew Boff says some workers are getting less than their due

A London politician is piling the pressure on Hackney Council to provide the London Living Wage of £8.55 per hour to all employees – including those subcontracted through hired companies.

The issue took national precedence last month as London’s mayor, Boris Johnson, announced plans to raise the London Living Wage (LLW) from £8.30 to £8.55 per hour.

Hackney Council signed up to the London Living Wage in 2005, but – as revealed by the Hackney Citizen last month – there is still controversy surrounding the LLW for workers who are indirectly employed by the council – such as school cleaning and catering staff.

Conservative London Assembly Member Andrew Boff said: “What the council is saying and what the Council is doing seems to be quite contrary. Rather than just mouthing, [they should] take some positive action towards the Living Wage.”

When quizzed about its current position on the living wage for contracted employees, a Hackney Council spokesperson said: “Payment of the London Living Wage forms part of the decision-making process for the award of council contracts.

“We expect contractors to pay the London Living Wage to staff delivering services in Hackney to the extent that we are permitted by law, which is the same as and no less than any other public authority who is a living wage employer.”

However the Hackney Citizen has been shown a payslip of a catering staff employee at a Hackney school, who was being paid just £5.46 per hour.

This rate is below both the national living wage and the national minimum wage.

The issue of the London Living Wage for contracted council employees was also raised by Hackney resident Mr Boff at last month’s Mayor’s Question Time at City Hall.

London Mayor Boris Johnson vowed: “That is certainly something I will bring up with Hackney [Council] next time we have that conversation.”

“The GLA [Greater London Authority] does its best to make sure all our contractors pay the London Living Wage. Where there are historic contracts that need to be changed in favour of the London Living Wage, that will happen when those contracts are renewed,” he added.