The Shame of Huge Building Contractors Refusing to Pay the London Living Wage

SERTUC joined a protest in London, 19 August 2015, organised by construction unions UCATT and Unite, at the headquarters of employer’s organisations, arguing for all construction workers to be paid at least £9.15 an hour.

UCATT and UNITE report that last month the employers on the Construction Industry Joint Council, known as the CIJC, (the largest industrial agreement in the construction industry), blocked a union proposal that all construction workers employed in London on projects that are covered by the CIJC agreement should receive at least the London Living Wage.

Presently, the hourly rate for ‘labourers’ and ‘general operatives’ working under the CIJC, is £8.52, whilst the London Living Wage is £9.15 per hour. When the annual recalculation of the London Living Wage is announced in November 2015 the rate will increase, meaning that an even greater number of workers covered by the CIJC agreement will actually be paid below the London Living Wage threshold.

In response to the employer’s actions UCATT and Unite held protests outside the offices of the Home Builders Federation, the Civil Engineering Contractors Association, and the National Access and Scaffolding Confederation, in London.

Unions report that many construction workers have to work excessive hours just to make ends meet. London’s prosperity is partly based on the success of the construction sector, yet some of the construction workers employed in London, who are creating the wealth, are being denied a wage that they can live on with decency. Construction companies are effectively saying ‘poverty pay is OK’ in our industry in one of the World’s most expensive cities.

More and more businesses, industry leaders, politicians and faith leaders have recognised the importance of the ‘Living Wage’ as a way of giving workers a decent income. The construction industry in London claims to be world-class. Paying the London Living Wage as a minimum hourly rate for those on the lowest pay bands should be a matter of principle and SERTUC urges employers in the industry to sit down and negotiate positively with unions in the industry to make this happen as a matter of urgency. 

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@ucattunion

@unitetheunion

Laurie Heselden                

@TUCLaurieHeseld

Megan Dobney                  

@mdobney