London Green Councillors call for London councils to start paying the living wage to staff and for business to work towards a 10:1 pay ratio.
Green Party Councillors in London have issued a united call for action to tackle wage inequality in the capital as thousands take to the streets in support of the TUC’s “Britain Needs a Pay Rise” march.
Incomes in London are more unequal than anywhere else in the country. The top ten percent of earners in the capital currently take home four and half times the poorest tenth – a ratio that continues to expand.
London’s Green Councillors are calling on councils and businesses across the capital to work together to redress this balance. They want councils to pay at least the living wage to their staff and are also pushing for businesses to work towards achieving a 10:1 pay ratio within their company so that top pay is no more than 10 times the lowest.
Sian Berry, Green Party Councillor for Camden, said:
“Only when the London living wage is championed by employers across the capital will we start to reduce the wealth gap and ensure that everyone earns enough to build a life around. As public sector employers, councils have a duty to set the standard on fair pay, including for the staff employed by contractors, many of whom are still on zero-hours contracts a earning way-off what most people would consider to be a decent wage.”
Scott Ainslie, Green Party Councillor for Lambeth, said:
“Greens in Lambeth have successfully pushed the council to become a Living Wage employer, and we are now getting that extended to contractors. Making these changes can bring huge financial and social benefits – helping to ensure workers earn enough to provide for themselves and their families.
“But there is much more that needs to be done to tackle wage inequality too, which hurts so many on low pay. The problem is not too little money to go around. The problem is that it is not being spread equally. We need to work together to create more wage equality, from which everyone benefits.”