Big Firms Sign Up To London Living Wage

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.