Biggs backs down on pay for young workers

JOHN BIGGS HAS backed down in the face of a campaign by Unite the Union and agreed that young people working in Council leisure facilities run by GLL should receive he full London Living Wage (LLL) – but he hasn’t revealed who is going to pay for the increase.

Background to the Living Wage
The last Labour Government introduced a National Minimum Wage, which all employers had to pay. Trade unions agreed this was a brilliant idea – but said that Tony Blair had set the level at such a low rate that it enshrined poverty pay, while profits could grow unchecked. Unions therefore developed the concept of the “Living Wage”, which was set at a level high enough for people to live on.

Mayor Lutfur Rahman brought in the Living Wage for all Council employees – and went further, insisting that contractors who work for the Council should pay it to their staff too. This is a policy which Executive Mayor John Biggs has continued.

In April 2016, the Government basically accepted the argument that the National Minimum Wage was too low. It made the national Living Wage compulsory – but it was set at different rates, with young people receiving much less than older workers, even when they were doing the same job.

GLL and the youth pay deficit
GLL run leisure and sports facilities for a number of London Councils. They pay most of their staff the London Living Wage (£10.20 per hour) – but they only pay £8.10 to workers aged between 18 and 21. Unite the Union, which many of the young workers had joined, is campaigning across London for GLL to pay all its workers the London Living Wage, regardless of age.

Biggs resists the argument
John Biggs initially responded to the Unite campaign by saying that the young workers could not be paid the full wage. He explained that the Council had negotiated with GLL to ensure all workers would be paid the full London Living Wage, but the Council and GLL had agreed that the young workers would be paid the full wage from April 2019 – and it could not be brought in before then.

Unite disagreed – and pointed out that if the Council funded the extra payments, GLL could hardly refuse to vary its contract with the Council and pay up the increase from April 2018.

Who caved in?
The Council’s statement says: “Mayor John Biggs agreed with leisure provider GLL to both introduce the London Living Wage for young workers, and also backdate it from April 2018.” This leaves us not knowing if GLL is absorbing the cost of the increases, or whether the Council is covering the extra costs.

The Council goes on to say that, “After action from the Mayor, GLL agreed to pay the London Living Wage to staff under the age of 21 from September 2018” and “the council would backdate this increase in salary from April 2018.” This suggests that GLL is absorbing the cost of paying the standard rate seven months early, with the Council picking up the bill for the higher wages for the first five months – but it is not at all clear.

How much does the increase cost? The Council says that 30 young workers are affected, and that the increase is £2.10 per hour. Presuming all the young staff work a 35 hour week, that could be a cost of around £44,000 (which would appear to be somewhat less than the cost of the extra allowances paid to the senior councillors whom the Executive Mayor has put in top jobs). How did the Executive Mayor find this sort of money – and what made him change his mind?

Young workers benefit
The Council has explained how Sevin, 20, a recreation assistant at Poplar Baths welcomed the pay increase. Sevin said, “I’m one of several junior staff here that stands to benefit from receiving the London Living Wage. It’s expensive living in London – so backdating this to April will really make a difference to me.” The Council did not remind us that Labour left Poplar Baths in mothballs for years, and it took a strong community campaign, working with Mayor Lutfur Rahman, that found a way to get the Baths open again.

Mayor and Cabinet Member share the joy
Referring to his visit to Poplar Baths, Mayor John Biggs said, “I was delighted to visit Poplar Baths and meet Sevin who is getting a pay rise following my recent announcement at cabinet. We have worked with GLL to ensure staff aged 18-21 in Tower Hamlets are paid LLW and I have asked for this pay rise to be backdated. The change brings their pay into line with staff who are over 21 who already receive the London Living Wage. It’s a great outcome for the young people who will benefit.”

The Executive Mayor did not explain what made him change his mind. He did not pay credit to the Unite campaign, which drew the pay discrepancy to public attention – or explain why he had allowed the delay in paying young workers the full wage in the first place.

Cllr Amina Ali, Cabinet Member for Culture, the Arts and Brexit, went with Executive Mayor John Biggs to the Baths. She said, “Youth employment is a major priority for the borough. I’m delighted that we have been able to convince GLL to pay younger workers delivering frontline services to our residents the London Living Wage for the important work that they do.”

Unite responds
Unite regional officer Onay Kasab was fully prepared to take credit for the union’s campaign, saying, “We regard this as a significant victory in our campaign to achieve LLW pay justice for young people employed in London boroughs by GLL. Tower Hamlets had originally agreed with GLL that workers under 21 would have to wait until April 2019 to get the LLW, despite workers aged 21 and over doing the same work and getting the LLW.

“Our campaign putting GLL and Tower Hamlets under the spotlight has led to GLL agreeing to pay for and bring forward the increase to September this year and the council paying for the increase from April.  Workers under 21 will now receive the LLW backdated to April 2018. The increase will be from £8.10 per hour to the LLW of £10.20 an hour – that’s an increase of 21% on the hourly rate.

“This is a great win for young workers. We made the point, again and again, that the high cost of living in London impacts on workers no matter what your age. There is no young person’s discount on food and rent – and so there should be no age discrimination on wages either.”

Unite will now continue its campaign for all councils across London to insist that all their contractors pay young people the full London Living Wage – and to show young people the benefits of joining a trade union.

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