Covent Garden cleaners want an extra £1 an hour for covering the BAFTA film awards, raising their pay to the London living wage.
Nothing to do with us, says ROH. They should discuss it with their employment agency.
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How, in the UK, is “living wage” defined?
You’ll find information for London (where this is most relevant) here: http://www.london.gov.uk/priorities/business-economy/publications/gla-economics/a-fairer-london-the-2013-living-wage-in-london.
Thank you!
Various groups believe the legal minimum wage is too low, and campaign for a higher figure which they call the “living wage”.
As it happens, if the government simply didn’t tax those earning the minimum wage the ‘take-home’ figure those on that wage would end up with in their pocket would be remarkably similar, if not marginally higher, than the so-called ‘living wage’.
(In other words, the simplest solution is to just raise the tax threshold to a level at or above the full-time minimum wage. That’s it. There’s no need to try to persuade numerous employers to move salaries upwards – exactly the same money-in-the-employees-pockets is achieved by not taxing the current minimum wage)
ROH has “outsourced” its custodial personnel for “optimal management flexibility, thus providing a world-class entertainment facility with cost-effective staffing solutions.”
Quoting who?
I made it up; apparently you can get a degree in “arts management” to learn the lingo, too.
Why put “arts management” in quotes? I have my quibbles with management, but it’s a difficult, specialized field.
Translation: by being once removed from the actual person doing the job we can say that paying less than the living wage is not our responsibility.
Yep. Disgraceful!
This a very inaccurate report. The cleaners do not work for an employment agency, they work for MITIE who are contracted by the Royal Opera, many have workerd at the Opera for over 10 years. The Royal Opera House determine the terms of the contracts. Nor is it true the cleaners are striking for £1 extra to work at the BAFTAs, they was an end to their poverty wages and be paid the London Living Wage of £8.80 per hour. The cleaners also want their tea break restored which was vindictively abolished.
When humans become a profit center, it’s almost inevitable that they’ll also become regarded as a commodity.
It’s absurd that this issue exists in 2014, after 150 years or more of trade unions. Just shows that progressive policies need to be constantly reinforced, otherwise bosses will find new ways to shaft the workers. Out-sourcing in the public sector, and I include Higher Education which has also seen cleaners protesting about their pay, has become a way putting the issue of low wages at arm’s length, which, frankly, just isn’t good enough. To put things into perspective, the minimum wage is about £12,800 a year. It would certainly be a huge struggle to survive on that in London.
The ROH should ensure that its cleaners are paid the London living wage throughout the year, whether directly or indirectly employed by them. It is a disgrace that people working for the ROH are being paid less.
“We’re all in this together.”