GMB welcome increase in London and UK Living Wage
GMB welcome increase of London Living Wage to £10.75 per hour and UK Living Wage to £9.30 per hour and call on employers to start paying it
If employers don't start paying the London Living Wage they will face staff shortages as workers, especially younger people, are priced out of housing market, says GMB London
GMB have welcomed the news that the ‘Real Living Wage’ has risen to £10.75 per hour in London and £9.30 for the rest of the UK.
The figure, independently calculated by the Living Wage Foundation and announced today (November 11) is based on what people need to live in London, and has risen by 20p from £10.55 per hour.
In East of England the real living wage is £9.30 per hour, an increase of 30p from £9.
GMB have called on all employers in London to pay the voluntary London Living Wage which is now £2.54 per hour higher than the government minimum wage (for over 25s) of £8.21 per hour, with the UK Living Wage now £1.09 per hour higher.
Warren Kenny, GMB Regional Secretary said:
“GMB welcome the increase of the Living Wage to £10.75 an hour in London and £9.30 per hour outside London.
“Now it’s time for more employers to start paying it. In particular, contractors in the public sector and the NHS who should be forced to pay it.
“These pay increases are badly needed. Earlier this year, GMB showed that across London rent has risen by 21.7% since 2011 yet monthly earnings have increased by just 9.1% across the capital. In East of England rent has risen by 31.4% since 2011 compared to just 8.8% increase in pay rises. [See notes to editors for copy of GMB press release]
“If employers don't start paying the London Living Wage they will face staff shortages as workers, especially younger people, are priced out of housing market.”
ENDS
Contact: Keith Williams 07710 631339 or Lola McEvoy 07967 440297 or GMB London Press Office 0758 303 9451
Notes to Editors
Living Wage Foundation Press Release (November 11 2019)
https://www.livingwage.org.uk/news/real-living-wage-increases-2019-20
Previous GMB London press release
“Rent in London up 21.7% since 2011 compared to 9.1% pay rises” (13 June 2019)
https://www.gmblondon.org.uk/news/rent-and-earnings-in-london
