The Malaysian-owned Battersea Power Station Development Company has committed to paying the London Living Wage (LLW) to all construction workers employed on phase 2 and 3 of £3bn redevelopment project in Battersea.
Under the agreement, brokered by the UCATT trade union as part of its long-running campaign to ensire that London construction workers earn the LLW figure of £9.15 an hour, all workers that pass through the site’s gates are due to benefit from the guarantee.
This means that Skanska, already on site as main contractor for the £750m phase 2 of the project, is likely to have to ensure that its subcontractors offer staff the LLW.
According to a spokesperson for UCATT, payment of the living wage would be enforced through auditing with a full-time union convenor based on the site.
Jerry Swain, UCATT’s regional secretary for London and the South East, said: “The client has been very supportive of the London Living Wage, they along with ourselves recognise that a living wage as a minimum rate of pay is a key component to establishing a loyal and committed workforce.”
He added: “This agreement is good news for London construction workers, especially those working on the site from the local community, who are now guaranteed being paid wages they can live on. UCATT will continue to try and convince clients via various means that the London living wage is not just a moral issue but it also makes good business sense.”
The London Living Wage is currently £9.15 an hour, above the lowest rate of the Construction Industry Joint Council agreement where labourers and general operatives are on a rate of £8.52 an hour.
Recently, major employers in other sectors in other sectors including Whitbread and Next have gone public with their fears that paying the National Living Wage – set by the government at £7.20 an hour and due to take effect next April – would send shockwaves through the labour market. The current national minimum wage is £6.50.
Skanska and Turner & Townsend, programme manager for the project, were both unavailable for comment.
The developer has made the agreement directly with UCATT, rather than seeking accreditation with the Living Wage Foundation, the charity that promotes the LLW.
In October 2014, Construction Manager revealed that only two UK construction firms, Canary Wharf Group and County Durham-based roofing contractor Hodgson Sayers, have joined the voluntary scheme.
But a Living Wage Foundation spokesperson welcomed the agreement, telling Construction Manager: “We welcome the move, it’s fantastic. Construction is an industry where there needs to be more take up of the voluntary living wage.
“We would encourage the organisation to accredit with the Living Wage Foundation so that the agreement becomes legally binding.”
This is a pointless exercise I would have thought, with current ‘subcontractor prices’ for bricklaying, drylining etc the workers are earning far more anyway (unless the agencies who employ them are creaming profits)
Note also that you have to only venture around some densely immigrant areas like Ilford or Southall to realise outside some religious centres even the suspect illegal migrants demand up to £70 in cash.
If UCATT are serious they should send their squad to smaller building sites/ private home extensions to see the blatant use of such labour not just make pointless headlines.