Lib Dem Mayoral Candidate, Siobhan Benita, has written to the CEO of the big four supermarkets demanding that they correct the “injustice” of workers not being paid enough to live on and to “pay all of your workers, at a minimum, the London Living Wage”.
The letter notes that supermarket workers are “putting themselves at risk of catching the virus every day” and that the public has a newfound appreciation for how essential their work is.
The London Living Wage, set at £10.75 per hour, is based on the real cost of living in the capital. None of the four supermarkets Benita wrote to – Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons – are accredited as paying their workers this minimum standard by the Living Wage Foundation
Benita took the opportunity to thank supermarkets for all of their hard work during the Coronavirus pandemic and praised the sector for doing “an outstanding job” in adapting to the crisis.
But she also made a point out of saying any short term measures, like bonuses, will be “welcome but they won’t be sufficient”. Instead, she insisted that the introduction of a London Living Wage should be a permanent position.
