The London Assembly today called on the Mayor to urge London’s six Premier League clubs to pay their staff the London Living Wage [1].
In support of the Mayor’s vision for the London Living Wage to be ‘the norm’ by 2020[2], the Assembly agreed[3] that London’s Premier League clubs, who pay their footballers up to £180,000 a week, should introduce the London Living Wage to their businesses.
The London Living Wage is calculated according to the basic cost of living in London, which continues to rise above the basis costs across the country.
Murad Qureshi AM, who proposed the motion, said:
“A recent investigation by Campaign Citizens UK have highlighted that it would take 13 years for back-up staff at a Premier League club to earn what a footballer earns in a week.
“The public subsidy helping to fund new stadiums for West Ham and Tottenham is an opportunity for the London Living Wage to be introduced as a condition of taxpayer support”.
The full text of the motion agreed at today’s meeting reads as follows:
“This Assembly welcomes the fact that London is home to six football teams in the Premier League which is the most prestigious and well recognised football league in the world. The Assembly notes that some footballers at these football clubs can earn up to £180,000 a week.
These football clubs have annual turnovers of between £261m (Chelsea) and £15m (Crystal Palace).
This Assembly recognises the success that these football clubs have and the role they provide to our city in establishing London as a giant of cities in the football world, however we are concerned by the disparity between the highest earners and the lowest earners at these clubs.
We note that the Mayor is a supporter of the London Living Wage campaign.
We call on the Mayor to write to London’s six Premier League football clubs – Arsenal FC, Chelsea FC, Fulham FC, West Ham United, Tottenham Hotspur and Crystal Palace – emphasising both the reputational benefits and the business case for the payment of the London Living Wage to their staff.”
Notes to editors:
- The London Living Wage is currently £8.80 per hour. This is 39 per cent above the National Minimum Wage – a very significant differential for low-paid workers.
- The Mayor has made a commitment to increase the number of private sector employers paying the London living wage to 250 within the next three years, and hopes to make the London Living Wage the ‘norm’ by 2020. As of December 2013, there are 222 accredited Living Wage employers in London.
- The motion was agreed by 17 votes for to one abstention at a meeting of the full Assembly today. Watch the webcast.
- As well as investigating issues that matter to Londoners, the London Assembly acts as a check and a balance on the Mayor.