Post by QPR Report on Oct 29, 2008 6:39:07 GMT
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The Guardian -" The Mayor of London has called for the capital's five top-flight clubs to pay their staff a 'living wage' "
[He's talking about Premiership clubs, but obviously question is applicable everywhere. Whether this is the Mayor of London's role to be involved, is another matter] And Premiership Clubs' Response:
The actual letter from the Mayor of London - image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Football/documents/2008/10/28/JohnsonLetter.pdf
Johnson urges clubs to pay their staff fairly - David Conn The Guardian, Wednesday October 29 2008
London’s mayor has written to the capital's five top-flight clubs urging them to pay their staff at least £7.45 per hour.
Boris Johnson has written to Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham, Fulham and West Ham urging them to pay all of their staff a "living wage" after a survey found Premier League clubs paying cleaners, catering staff and programme sellers at or just above the minimum of £5.52 an hour.
The survey, by Fair Pay Network, found jobs advertised at Manchester United and Liverpool at £5.52, vacancies at Fulham on £6 per hour, Spurs looking for warehouse staff for £5.75 per hour, and similar rates at other Premier League clubs.
Fair Pay Network cites research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation that a "living wage" for a single person starts at £7.45 an hour in London, £6.80 outside it. A policy begun by Johnson's predecessor as mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, sees all Greater London Authority staff paid at least £7.45, the London living wage.
In his letter, Johnson said: "Concerns have been raised with me about low-paid workers at London's five Premier League clubs." He argues, as does Fair Pay Network, that the clubs would benefit if they paid better. "Staff who are paid at a level that can reasonably sustain them tend to be more productive, loyal and committed," it said. "It would set a superb example for your club to agree to pay your low-paid workers - shop assistants, catering staff and cleaners - the London living wage, and I urge you to do so."
Mark Donne, Fair Pay Network's director, criticised the disparity between the wages earned by players and chief executives and those paid to support staff. "It is offensive," he said. "Football must be one of the most unequal industries we have: an extremely wealthy sport with people servicing it who are living in poverty."
A spokeswoman for Arsenal claimed that the club already pay all their permanent staff the "London living wage", but are not responsible for the part-time workers in the Emirates catering and cleaning operations, which are contracted out.
Also: David Conn/The Guardian
Football's plutocrats resist call for living wage for staffThe Premier League argues it pays market rates and the minimum salary is the government's responsibility
Fulham stewards watch on at Craven Cottage. Photograph: Ker Robertson/Getty Images
The Premier League, the great, sparkling, global advert for Britain is, it seems, a standard-bearer for our deeply unequal society too. The pressure group Fair Pay Network is campaigning for Premier League clubs to pay "a living wage" to their programme sellers, cleaners and catering staff following a survey which found many of them were being paid the minimum wage of £5.52 per hour; in the organisation's words, "the lowest wage it is legally acceptable to pay".
This in a sport which pays its top star players a reported £160,000 a week, and bumper pay packages to directors - over £1m a year for the chief executives of Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and the Premier League itself, Richard Scudamore.
Fair Pay Network cites research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation that £5.52 an hour is not enough to live decently on; it leaves people in real, material poverty, and the network argues an hourly wage of £7.45 in London, £6.80 outside the capital, is the minimum necessary for a single person. The organisation found that many jobs advertised at Premier League clubs, often by companies contracted to provide catering at the grounds, were paying the minimum wage. Some were for people to serve in corporate hospitality areas, which, famously, symbolise the "prawn sandwich" culture of wealth at the top clubs.
One advert for a kitchen porter to work at Heathcote's at Anfield, the fine-dining end of Liverpool's matchday experience, specified the wage was the legal minimum, £5.52 per hour. An applicant for a job at Manchester United Conference and Banqueting was told the pay was: "Dependent on area of work. However, most areas will follow the national minimum wage of £5.52 per hour."
Vacancies at Fulham this summer for people to serve food and drink from kiosks at the ground were advertised via an agency at £6 an hour, while Spurs were looking for warehouse staff in their merchandise division to work for £5.75 an hour. At Chelsea, owned by the Russian oligarch billionaire Roman Abramovich, Fair Pay Network found catering jobs being offered below the living wage.
"It is offensive," says Mark Donne, Fair Pay Network's director. "Football must be one of the most unequal industries we have: an extremely wealthy sport with people servicing it who are living in working poverty."
Last week the mayor of London, Boris Johnson, wrote to Abramovich at Chelsea and to Arsenal, Tottenham, Fulham and West Ham saying "concerns have been raised with me about low-paid workers at London's five Premier League clubs", calling on them to pay a "living wage". In a policy begun by his predecessor, Ken Livingstone, all Greater London Authority staff are paid at least the £7.45 an hour "London Living Wage". Johnson argues, as does Fair Pay Network, that the clubs would themselves benefit if they paid more, because their staff would be more motivated and loyal.
"London's football clubs are an integral part of the social fabric of this city," Johnson wrote, "the values they stand for and actions they take have a huge influence on millions of people.
"It would set a superb example for your club to agree to pay your low-paid workers - shop assistants, catering staff and cleaners - the London Living Wage, and I urge you to do so."
The sports minister, Gerry Sutcliffe, also supports the living wage campaign, on the same basis: that the football clubs, so rich and bearing the names of their towns and cities, would set a notable example for decent pay to the country at large. No clubs, however, have yet committed to paying the "living wage", although Fair Pay Network says it is having positive discussions with Aston Villa and is hopeful that Villa will become the first.
In response to the survey and campaign, the Premier League, speaking on the clubs' behalf, pointed to the "substantial contribution" the clubs make to the economy and pay in tax, and said: "The clubs respect all the relevant employment laws." A spokesman suggested that if the government believes the minimum wage should be higher, it should pass a law to that effect: "Statutory pay levels are a matter for government," he said. "Perhaps this would be the most appropriate place for the Fair Pay Network to concentrate their campaign efforts."
Scudamore himself, in a letter earlier this month to Alan Keen MP, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Football Group, wrote that clubs do not have a problem recruiting at even the lowest-paid levels:
"In general clubs receive many applications for the available jobs, suggesting that terms and conditions are relatively attractive compared to other employment opportunities."
Scudamore was paid a basic salary of £590,000 in the year to July 31 2007. He also received a bonus of £410,000 because of the television deals he secured for the clubs. In addition, £213,000 was paid into his pension, making his total remuneration £1.2m. Sir Dave Richards, the Premier League's part-time chairman and only other director, was paid £261,000 for what the league says is a three-day week.
The pay of Premier League directors (see below), which increased substantially at most clubs between 2006 and 2007 - and is likely to go up again because of the bigger, £2.7bn TV deal which began last season - is mostly a great deal higher than the pay of directors at general companies with similar-sized turnovers. Peter Kenyon, Chelsea's chief executive, was the Premier League boardroom's highest earner on £1.9m, followed by Manchester United's David Gill on £1.48m, Liverpool's Rick Parry on £1.12m, and Arsenal's managing director, Keith Edelman, whose total pay was £1.056m in the 12 months to May 31 this year.
According to the Chartered Management Institute, companies in the "Big Four" bracket, turning over between £100m and £249m annually, pay their chief executives on average £650,000. Spurs were the only other club which turned over more than £100m; chairman, Daniel Levy, was paid £950,000, an 18% increase on his 2006 pay packet of £775,000.
Below those top clubs, chief executives' pay was still mostly higher than at non-football companies with similar turnover - and startlingly high for the best-paid directors at Sunderland, £1.06m, and Portsmouth, £907,175. Neither club identified which director had been paid those packages, and Sunderland declined to discuss the disparity between the highest-paid millionaire director and the wages of the lowest paid at the Stadium of Light.
Sources at some clubs justified the chief executives' pay by arguing that while it looks glamorous and enjoyable, the job is high pressure and demands a wide range of skills which only a few people have.
A Manchester United spokesman said of the gap between Gill's salary and the minimum wage catering jobs: "We are a global business and the challenge David Gill has in managing that is bigger than in an average £210m turnover business. But at all levels, people want to work for Manchester United. We pay the market rate for both jobs."
Football, the national game, has always held a mirror to the nation.
To read a copy of Boris Johnson's letter to London's Premier League chairmen, click here. Johnson has called for London club's to pay their staff a 'living wage'
Fat cats league
The highest-paid directors at each Premier League club and their total pay packages according to the most recently published accounts
Arsenal Keith Edelman £1.056m*
Aston Villa Doug Ellis £790,914*
Blackburn John Williams £285,477
Bolton Allan Duckworth £418,000
Chelsea Peter Kenyon £1.9m
Everton Keith Wyness £466,000
FA Brian Barwick £654,000
Fulham Unnamed £275,500
Hull City not disclosed
Liverpool Rick Parry £1.12m
Man City Alistair Mackintosh £293,000
Man United David Gill £1.48m
Middlesbrough Steve Gibson is the sole director and is not paid
Newcastle Douglas Hall £2.79m*
Portsmouth Unnamed £907,175
Premier League Richard Scudamore £1.21m
Stoke City No directors were paid
Sunderland Unnamed £1.06m
Tottenham Hotspur Daniel Levy £950,000
West Brom Jeremy Peace £309,000
West Ham Paul Aldridge £1.7m*
Wigan Brenda Spencer not disclosed
* includes compensation for leaving the club
The Guardian -" The Mayor of London has called for the capital's five top-flight clubs to pay their staff a 'living wage' "
[He's talking about Premiership clubs, but obviously question is applicable everywhere. Whether this is the Mayor of London's role to be involved, is another matter] And Premiership Clubs' Response:
The actual letter from the Mayor of London - image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Football/documents/2008/10/28/JohnsonLetter.pdf
Johnson urges clubs to pay their staff fairly - David Conn The Guardian, Wednesday October 29 2008
London’s mayor has written to the capital's five top-flight clubs urging them to pay their staff at least £7.45 per hour.
Boris Johnson has written to Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham, Fulham and West Ham urging them to pay all of their staff a "living wage" after a survey found Premier League clubs paying cleaners, catering staff and programme sellers at or just above the minimum of £5.52 an hour.
The survey, by Fair Pay Network, found jobs advertised at Manchester United and Liverpool at £5.52, vacancies at Fulham on £6 per hour, Spurs looking for warehouse staff for £5.75 per hour, and similar rates at other Premier League clubs.
Fair Pay Network cites research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation that a "living wage" for a single person starts at £7.45 an hour in London, £6.80 outside it. A policy begun by Johnson's predecessor as mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, sees all Greater London Authority staff paid at least £7.45, the London living wage.
In his letter, Johnson said: "Concerns have been raised with me about low-paid workers at London's five Premier League clubs." He argues, as does Fair Pay Network, that the clubs would benefit if they paid better. "Staff who are paid at a level that can reasonably sustain them tend to be more productive, loyal and committed," it said. "It would set a superb example for your club to agree to pay your low-paid workers - shop assistants, catering staff and cleaners - the London living wage, and I urge you to do so."
Mark Donne, Fair Pay Network's director, criticised the disparity between the wages earned by players and chief executives and those paid to support staff. "It is offensive," he said. "Football must be one of the most unequal industries we have: an extremely wealthy sport with people servicing it who are living in poverty."
A spokeswoman for Arsenal claimed that the club already pay all their permanent staff the "London living wage", but are not responsible for the part-time workers in the Emirates catering and cleaning operations, which are contracted out.
Also: David Conn/The Guardian
Football's plutocrats resist call for living wage for staffThe Premier League argues it pays market rates and the minimum salary is the government's responsibility
Fulham stewards watch on at Craven Cottage. Photograph: Ker Robertson/Getty Images
The Premier League, the great, sparkling, global advert for Britain is, it seems, a standard-bearer for our deeply unequal society too. The pressure group Fair Pay Network is campaigning for Premier League clubs to pay "a living wage" to their programme sellers, cleaners and catering staff following a survey which found many of them were being paid the minimum wage of £5.52 per hour; in the organisation's words, "the lowest wage it is legally acceptable to pay".
This in a sport which pays its top star players a reported £160,000 a week, and bumper pay packages to directors - over £1m a year for the chief executives of Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and the Premier League itself, Richard Scudamore.
Fair Pay Network cites research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation that £5.52 an hour is not enough to live decently on; it leaves people in real, material poverty, and the network argues an hourly wage of £7.45 in London, £6.80 outside the capital, is the minimum necessary for a single person. The organisation found that many jobs advertised at Premier League clubs, often by companies contracted to provide catering at the grounds, were paying the minimum wage. Some were for people to serve in corporate hospitality areas, which, famously, symbolise the "prawn sandwich" culture of wealth at the top clubs.
One advert for a kitchen porter to work at Heathcote's at Anfield, the fine-dining end of Liverpool's matchday experience, specified the wage was the legal minimum, £5.52 per hour. An applicant for a job at Manchester United Conference and Banqueting was told the pay was: "Dependent on area of work. However, most areas will follow the national minimum wage of £5.52 per hour."
Vacancies at Fulham this summer for people to serve food and drink from kiosks at the ground were advertised via an agency at £6 an hour, while Spurs were looking for warehouse staff in their merchandise division to work for £5.75 an hour. At Chelsea, owned by the Russian oligarch billionaire Roman Abramovich, Fair Pay Network found catering jobs being offered below the living wage.
"It is offensive," says Mark Donne, Fair Pay Network's director. "Football must be one of the most unequal industries we have: an extremely wealthy sport with people servicing it who are living in working poverty."
Last week the mayor of London, Boris Johnson, wrote to Abramovich at Chelsea and to Arsenal, Tottenham, Fulham and West Ham saying "concerns have been raised with me about low-paid workers at London's five Premier League clubs", calling on them to pay a "living wage". In a policy begun by his predecessor, Ken Livingstone, all Greater London Authority staff are paid at least the £7.45 an hour "London Living Wage". Johnson argues, as does Fair Pay Network, that the clubs would themselves benefit if they paid more, because their staff would be more motivated and loyal.
"London's football clubs are an integral part of the social fabric of this city," Johnson wrote, "the values they stand for and actions they take have a huge influence on millions of people.
"It would set a superb example for your club to agree to pay your low-paid workers - shop assistants, catering staff and cleaners - the London Living Wage, and I urge you to do so."
The sports minister, Gerry Sutcliffe, also supports the living wage campaign, on the same basis: that the football clubs, so rich and bearing the names of their towns and cities, would set a notable example for decent pay to the country at large. No clubs, however, have yet committed to paying the "living wage", although Fair Pay Network says it is having positive discussions with Aston Villa and is hopeful that Villa will become the first.
In response to the survey and campaign, the Premier League, speaking on the clubs' behalf, pointed to the "substantial contribution" the clubs make to the economy and pay in tax, and said: "The clubs respect all the relevant employment laws." A spokesman suggested that if the government believes the minimum wage should be higher, it should pass a law to that effect: "Statutory pay levels are a matter for government," he said. "Perhaps this would be the most appropriate place for the Fair Pay Network to concentrate their campaign efforts."
Scudamore himself, in a letter earlier this month to Alan Keen MP, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Football Group, wrote that clubs do not have a problem recruiting at even the lowest-paid levels:
"In general clubs receive many applications for the available jobs, suggesting that terms and conditions are relatively attractive compared to other employment opportunities."
Scudamore was paid a basic salary of £590,000 in the year to July 31 2007. He also received a bonus of £410,000 because of the television deals he secured for the clubs. In addition, £213,000 was paid into his pension, making his total remuneration £1.2m. Sir Dave Richards, the Premier League's part-time chairman and only other director, was paid £261,000 for what the league says is a three-day week.
The pay of Premier League directors (see below), which increased substantially at most clubs between 2006 and 2007 - and is likely to go up again because of the bigger, £2.7bn TV deal which began last season - is mostly a great deal higher than the pay of directors at general companies with similar-sized turnovers. Peter Kenyon, Chelsea's chief executive, was the Premier League boardroom's highest earner on £1.9m, followed by Manchester United's David Gill on £1.48m, Liverpool's Rick Parry on £1.12m, and Arsenal's managing director, Keith Edelman, whose total pay was £1.056m in the 12 months to May 31 this year.
According to the Chartered Management Institute, companies in the "Big Four" bracket, turning over between £100m and £249m annually, pay their chief executives on average £650,000. Spurs were the only other club which turned over more than £100m; chairman, Daniel Levy, was paid £950,000, an 18% increase on his 2006 pay packet of £775,000.
Below those top clubs, chief executives' pay was still mostly higher than at non-football companies with similar turnover - and startlingly high for the best-paid directors at Sunderland, £1.06m, and Portsmouth, £907,175. Neither club identified which director had been paid those packages, and Sunderland declined to discuss the disparity between the highest-paid millionaire director and the wages of the lowest paid at the Stadium of Light.
Sources at some clubs justified the chief executives' pay by arguing that while it looks glamorous and enjoyable, the job is high pressure and demands a wide range of skills which only a few people have.
A Manchester United spokesman said of the gap between Gill's salary and the minimum wage catering jobs: "We are a global business and the challenge David Gill has in managing that is bigger than in an average £210m turnover business. But at all levels, people want to work for Manchester United. We pay the market rate for both jobs."
Football, the national game, has always held a mirror to the nation.
To read a copy of Boris Johnson's letter to London's Premier League chairmen, click here. Johnson has called for London club's to pay their staff a 'living wage'
Fat cats league
The highest-paid directors at each Premier League club and their total pay packages according to the most recently published accounts
Arsenal Keith Edelman £1.056m*
Aston Villa Doug Ellis £790,914*
Blackburn John Williams £285,477
Bolton Allan Duckworth £418,000
Chelsea Peter Kenyon £1.9m
Everton Keith Wyness £466,000
FA Brian Barwick £654,000
Fulham Unnamed £275,500
Hull City not disclosed
Liverpool Rick Parry £1.12m
Man City Alistair Mackintosh £293,000
Man United David Gill £1.48m
Middlesbrough Steve Gibson is the sole director and is not paid
Newcastle Douglas Hall £2.79m*
Portsmouth Unnamed £907,175
Premier League Richard Scudamore £1.21m
Stoke City No directors were paid
Sunderland Unnamed £1.06m
Tottenham Hotspur Daniel Levy £950,000
West Brom Jeremy Peace £309,000
West Ham Paul Aldridge £1.7m*
Wigan Brenda Spencer not disclosed
* includes compensation for leaving the club