London mayor Boris Johnson has increased the London Living Wage to £7.60 per hour, a rise of 15p.
The rise represents an increase of 2% on last year’s figure, and an overall increase of 13.4% since the London Living Wage was introduced in 2005 at £6.70 per hour.
At least 29 organisations across London, including the Greater London Authority (GLA) group and private sector employers such as Barclays Bank, have implemented the wage since its launch in 2005.
As in the past, this increase will apply to all GLA group staff – about 2,000 people – and to all new contracts for staff working on GLA sites, such as caterers, security guards and cleaners.
Johnson said: “During these testing times, it is vital that we invest to pay Londoners a fair and decent wage. A London Living Wage is not just morally right but it makes commercial sense as all businesses need good, willing and motivated workers to support them through the recession and onto greater prosperity when the upturn comes.
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Megan Dobney, regional secretary for the TUC in London, said: “The robust methodology that determines its annual uprating remind us that food and fuel inflation for lower-paid workers run much higher than some inflation indicators show.
“The TUC very much welcomes this increase in the London Living Wage, which goes some way to reflect the reality for many thousands of London’s low-paid workers.”
