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Exclusive: West Ham's London Stadium agrees to pay staff London Living Wage

The operators of West Ham's London Stadium has agreed to stop using cheap labour - Getty Images Europe
The operators of West Ham's London Stadium has agreed to stop using cheap labour - Getty Images Europe

The operators of West Ham United’s London Stadium home have agreed to halt their use of cheap labour by paying all workers there the London Living Wage.

Barely six weeks after a Telegraph investigation exposed the scale of the exploitation of such labour at Premier League clubs and matches and at the country’s other most money-spinning sporting events, there was a major move to address the problem.

The Telegraph can reveal that a board meeting of E20 Stadium LLP on Tuesday ratified the implementation of the independently-calculated London Living Wage of £9.75 per hour for all events at the publicly-owned London Stadium.

The change came into force for all permanent staff with immediate effect, with contracts for casual workers - who make up the vast majority of the venue’s low-paid workforce - to follow once the subcontractors who employ them have been notified and paperwork amended accordingly.

An E20 spokesperson said that “may take several months to fully resolve”.

London Stadium - Credit:  Stephen Pond/Getty Images
The company operating the London Stadium has agreed to pay staff the London living wage Credit: Stephen Pond/Getty Images

The additional cost of the resultant pay rises, estimated to amount to around £750,000 per year, will be met by the taxpayer unless stadium operators can convince those subcontractors - or West Ham as anchor tenants - to absorb some of it.

The club certainly stand to benefit from the change, with their use of a stadium at which the London Living Wage was not always paid having prevented them becoming only the third Premier League side after Chelsea and Everton to be accredited as a Living Wage Employer.

West Ham, who say all their directly-employed staff already receive the London Living Wage, are not responsible for the running of their home ground, which they rent for just £2.5 million per year.

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The centrepiece of London 2012 is publicly owned and those who operate it are ultimately accountable to the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, who in February ordered the payment of the London Living Wage to all who worked there.

That was after writing to West Ham, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Crystal Palace the previous month urging the quartet to do the same as part of a drive to ensure every employer across the capital did so.

Khan said on Tuesday: “I gave clear instructions for the situation with sub-contracted staff at the London Stadium to be resolved as soon as possible and I welcome the decision by E20 to pay staff the London Living Wage.

“I urge other Premier League clubs and stadiums to do the same and work with me to help London become a city where everyone benefits from its success.”

Some Premier League clubs have already committed to making the payment of the independently-calculated living wage part of negotiations with suppliers when contracts are renewed.

However, E20 has demonstrated there is nothing to prevent any team renegotiating such deals rather than waiting for them to expire.

Michael Pugh, living wage community organiser for Citizens UK, said: “We are delighted that London Stadium have today agreed to pay the London Living Wage and we look forward to them accrediting with the Living Wage Foundation.

“This decision will change the lives of the stadium cleaners, security guards and caterers, who have campaigned for this with Citizens UK leaders in East London.

“With football awash with money for footballers, agents and executives, today’s decision proves that clubs and stadia can no longer hide behind third-party contractors as an excuse, and must follow the London Stadium in taking responsibility for the people who work on matchday and pay the real living wage, calculated according to the cost of living.”