The North West TUC and Frank Field MP have called on both Everton and Liverpool Football Club to become Living Wage employers, after a letter from the Birkenhead MP revealed that staff at Liverpool, and contracted out staff at both clubs, are not paid the Living Wage rate.
As new figures revealed one in four workers in the North West are paid below the Living Wage rate of £7.65 (this is due to rise with the announcement of a new rate of £7.85 announced today – Monday), both the TUC and Frank Field say that those who can easily afford to pay staff a living wage should do so. They believe that both Everton and Liverpool can and should make sure their cleaners, catering staff and security guards are paid enough to live on, given the multi-million pound turnover and the well publicised high salaries of players at both clubs. On Friday, Everton announced record profits of £28 million. Both the TUC and Frank Field believe that the clubs becoming accredited living wage employers would be a positive boost to the community and send a strong message that they recognise and reward their lowest paid staff.
Lynn Collins, North West TUC Regional Secretary, said: “Low paid work is a blight on workplaces, our communities and our economies. More importantly, it has a negative impact on the workers receiving such wages and their families. It’s incredibly disappointing that two football clubs, with revenues well in excess of £100 million pound, double in the case of LFC, with wage bills amounting to tens of millions of pounds, do not pay their hard working, low-paid staff a little more. Whether directly employed or via a contractor, both Everton and Liverpool can reward their staff, set an example and be the first Premier League clubs to become Living Wage accredited employers.”
Frank Field, MP for Birkenhead, who wrote to both clubs to ask them about their payment of the Living Wage, said: “The Living Wage is just that – a wage that is felt to be the basic minimum required for someone to live on. Not paying it has consequences for the individual and society – increased poverty, knock on effects to their health and wellbeing, impacts on family life and for the rest of us a higher spend on in work benefits like working tax credits and housing benefit. Football clubs that are meant to be sources of civic and community pride, that carry proudly the names of their community, should set an example and reward their staff.”