{"id":2113,"date":"2014-11-05T08:00:56","date_gmt":"2014-11-05T08:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=2113"},"modified":"2014-11-05T15:46:05","modified_gmt":"2014-11-05T15:46:05","slug":"still-waiting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=2113","title":{"rendered":"Still waiting"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As the Living Wage increased in London from \u00c2\u01418.80 per hour to \u00c2\u01419.15<\/a>, tens of thousands of workers across the nation benefited from a pay rise as more and more employers pledged to pay its workers the minimum wage required to live a decent life.<\/p>\n

 
\nBut for millions more, the Living Wage, a voluntary pay rate set above the statutory minimum wage, is still but a distant dream.<\/p>\n

 
\nUnite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hotel workers have been waiting a full two years for the hotel group IHG, which owns the Crowne Plaza and various Holiday Inns in the capital, to make good on its 2012 promise to phase in the London Living Wage over a five-year period.<\/p>\n

 
\nThe pledge was made as part of the hotel group\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s bid to secure an Olympic contract.<\/p>\n

 
\nToday (November 5), Unite hotel workers will take matters into their own hands with a day of action outside the Crowne Plaza in Blackfriars, London (EC4V 6DB) from 10am.<\/p>\n

 
\nNo progress<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

 
\nSince 2012, the hotel group has made no progress on its pledge, and London Mayor Boris Johnson has abdicated his responsibility to push the hotel group\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwhich successfully won the Olympic contract\u00e2\u20ac\u201dinto paying up.<\/p>\n

 
\nA large proportion of IHG workers are sub-contracted through employment agencies and earn \u00c2\u01416.50 per hour \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the legally-binding National Minimum Wage.<\/p>\n

 
\nIHG directly employs a smaller number of staff on minimum rates, typically \u00c2\u01416.80 an hour, most of whom are food and beverage assistants, room service personnel and luggage porters.<\/p>\n

 
\nUnite regional officer Dave Turnbull argued that the fact that so many workers at IHG are still on such low-pay indicates IHG has made no plans in keeping its pledge.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015b\u00c2\u01416.80 is the rate IHG introduced in June 2012 when they committed to phasing in the London Living Wage, so despite three consecutive hikes in the Living Wage rate, there seems to have been no progress at all in terms of phasing it in,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

 
\nProfits up<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

 
\nMany employers who do not pay the Living Wage argue that they simply cannot afford to. Turnbull says in the case of IHG, this excuse does not apply.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIHG\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s back-tracking on its promise is especially scandalous given its latest quarterly report showing outstanding profits,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bAccording to IHG\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s own figures<\/a>, it just now experienced the strongest quarterly growth in revenue per available room over the past two years.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe gap between the average worker at an IHG hotel and the highest paid director is jaw-dropping\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthe highest paid at IHG out-earns the average worker by a factor of 94,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Turnbull added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe claim that IHG cannot afford to pay its workers a living wage is preposterous.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nCall for minimum wage hike<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

 
\nBefore Unite hotel workers gather at the Crowne Plaza from 10am, Unite will be giving oral evidence to the Low Pay Commission, making the case for a \u00c2\u01411.50 hike in the National Minimum Wage<\/a>, a hike that Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s research has shown is entirely affordable for employers across the economy.<\/p>\n

 
\nTurnbull explained this as an opportunity to jumpstart IHG\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s broken Living Wage promise.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAs we present our evidence to the Low Pay Commission, calling for an \u00c2\u01418 an hour National Minimum Wage, we challenge IHG to demonstrate their commitment to phasing in the London Living Wage by establishing \u00c2\u01418 as a minimum rate with immediate effect on a voluntary basis,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Turnbull said.<\/p>\n

 
\nAfter Unite gives oral evidence to the Low Pay Commission–the independent body tasked with advising the government on setting the National Minimum Wage–members will meet outside the Commission office for a photo-op at 10am.<\/p>\n

 
\nUnite members will then proceed to the Crowne Plaza in Blackfriars for the morning of action. Unite assistant general secretary Diana Holland will hand-deliver a letter to IHG management demanding the hotel group keep its Living Wage promise.<\/p>\n

 
\nStay tuned on UNITElive.org for the latest on Living Wage Week, which runs through Saturday November 8.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the Living Wage increased in London from \u00c2\u01418.80 per hour to \u00c2\u01419.15, tens of thousands of workers across the nation benefited from a pay rise as more and more employers pledged to pay its workers the minimum wage required to live a decent life.   But for millions more, the Living Wage, a voluntary […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1841,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[23],"wps_subtitle":"Hotel workers challenge employer to keep Living Wage promise","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2113"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2113"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2113\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2124,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2113\/revisions\/2124"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}