London Assembly Tories Deny London Fire Brigade Cleaners a Living wage

Val Shawcross GLA Assembly Member

At a Finance Committee meeting earlier today the Conservative Members of the London Fire Authority voted against a proposal to pay the LFB cleaners a living wage.

In line with the Mayor’s policy, the Chair of London’s Fire Authority wants to ensure that contractors’ staff receive a fair wage. The position of the Conservative Group at the Finance Committee would mean that they would not receive a living wage – £7.05 an hour.

Val Shawcross, Chair of the Authority and Leader of the Labour Group said:
‘‘It is an outrage that the Conservatives on the Committee would vote this way to deny those who work for us a living wage. This will affect those who face disadvantage in the workplace - women and ethnic minorities – the most. The London Fire Brigade should be setting a good example as an employer.

What shocks me most is that none of the Conservative Group raised a murmur when their Leader spent a small fortune on new furniture and a redesigned office last year, even though we are moving out of the building this autumn, yet are happy to use terms like ‘financial prudence’ when slamming the lowest paid in our society.'

The Labour Group has demanded that the decision be put up to the Authority where they are hoping for the support of the LibDem Group on June 21 and will be proposing that the Authority ensures all of the cleaners working in our fire stations are paid the London Living Wage.

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