Life on Poverty Pay

In the run up to London hospitality workers’ £8.80 living wage action on 08/08 (August 8), Unite has produced a haunting exclusive film about the harsh realities of living in London on low pay.

In a series of anonymous interviews, hospitality workers tell their shocking stories of having to make do earning £6.31 an hour in one of the world’s most expensive cities.

One catering worker tells of how he has been stuck at the National Minimum Wage for 26 years.
Facing rising food prices in the capital, he agonises over the struggle to buy items many of us take for granted.

“I was out with my wife the other day, and she said, ‘We can’t buy anything today,’ so you have to be very cautious,” he explains. “I don’t have any money to pay the mortgage, so I applied for a loan but I was rejected.”

Still, he contends there are many other low wage earners who are worse off. He tells of a friend who is a dishwasher. He works 60-hour weeks—10-hour shifts without break–and brings home a paltry ÂŁ300. Not being able to afford to live in the city, he has to travel more than two hours each way just to get to his job. “I feel quite fortunate compared to him,” he says.

As viewers hear story after story of heart-breaking struggle, we’re given a visual tour of the London low wage workers will work for but will never experience: the posh hotels, the five-star restaurants, the exorbitantly priced tourist attractions.

If you were in any doubt about the pervasiveness of low-wage work in one of the world’s wealthiest cities, look no further than this film. You’ll never look at a hotel the same way again.