Big Firms Sign Up To London Living Wage

Rachel Holdsworth
By Rachel Holdsworth Last edited 160 months ago
Big Firms Sign Up To London Living Wage

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Photo by ~Duncan~ from the Londonist Flickr pool
Companies like Bank of America Merrill Lynch, L'Oreal and JP Morgan have signed up to ensure all staff on their books earn at least £7.85 an hour - the London Living Wage. This is an excellent way to lift people out of poverty - indeed, the GLA estimates that 170,000 of the capital's children could be lifted out of poverty if their parents earned the LLW - and the companies are to be congratulated.

But. (There's always one.) JP Morgan paid an average of £230k to its employees last year, while Bank of America gave an average $400k bonus to its investment bankers. Yet their cleaners were still on less than £7.85 an hour? Surely such wealthy corporations shouldn't need a Mayoral initiative to pay decent rates. However, they're doing it now so a big thumbs up - and with only 115 organisations signed up, an expectantly raised eyebrow in the direction of all the others.

Last Updated 17 November 2010