Last week (Thursday 8 June) more than 25 local employers attended a special event at the council’s headquarters Perceval House, in recognition of their commitment to pay the London Living Wage to the people they employ.
The event, hosted by Ealing Council and supported by the London Living Wage Foundation, is part of a drive to make Ealing a ’Living Wage place.’
To reach this goal, the council is insisting any business wanting to work with it must pay at least the London Living Wage to their employees. This is currently set at £11.95 per hour, £1.53 more than the statutory National Living Wage of £10.42 per hour. The celebratory event reaffirmed the council’s commitment to increasing the number of Real Living Wage employers in the borough
Jose Mendes, of St Anselm’s Church Southall spoke on the benefits of the Living Wage: “There are people in my church who have to think twice about buying a pair of shoes. This is why I have been campaigning for the living wage with Ealing Citizens for 10 years, getting employers like Heathrow Airport to raise the pay of 3,500 workers. We are delighted to be working in partnership with Ealing Council and local businesses, for Ealing to become a place where everyone earns a decent living wage.”
Councillor Louise Brett, the council’s cabinet member for decent living incomes, said: “I’m so proud of all the hard work that has been done so far on helping to get us to 55 accredited living wage employers in the borough. We’re well on the way to hitting our ambitious target of 200 employers in the next 3 years and events like this are a great opportunity to promote the benefits of real living wage accreditation and ensure that people working in Ealing have access to the decent living incomes that they deserve.”
Ealing Council has a history of championing fairer pay for workers and driving real Living Wage initiatives including being a living wage employer since 2013. In 2016, Councillor Peter Mason, now council leader, was a Living Wage Champion for Ealing Council as part of his cabinet responsibilities.
The council aims to reach a target of 200 local businesses accredited with Real Living Wage status by 2026. To encourage more employers to pay the Real Living Wage, the council offers a business relief discount of up to £2,000 to those that become accredited. In addition to access to free recruitment services and exposure on council websites.
Become a London Living Wage Employer
If you run a business in the borough and want to find out more about becoming a find out more about becoming a Living Wage employer.
