On Tuesday 21 March, Rokhsana Fiaz, Mayor of Newham, joined members of the Royal Docks Living Wage Action Group and local businesses for a celebration event at Expressway London. For the event Living Wage employer Tate & Lyle Sugars sponsored a lunch to celebrate the accreditation of General People, the operators of Expressway.
The Royal Docks Action Group is a coalition of local public, private and third sector accredited organisations aimed at increasing the number of accredited Living Wage Employers in the Royal Docks by 50% each year until 2025. This would secure a pay rise for more than 3,000 employees. The long-term aim of the group is to establish a norm that would see a real Living Wage as the minimum paid by all businesses based in the Royal Docks. There are currently 73 businesses in Newham accredited with the Living Wage Foundation, 25 of which are based in the Royal Docks.
Guests heard powerful and inspiring stories from those who are already benefitting from being paid a Living Wage. For example Mike (pictured next to the Mayor) an employee from Enabled Living, said: "I go to work happy and return with the same feeling. I feel like I am breaking the cycle and creating opportunities for my children to reach their potential. All because of a fair wage."
Mayor Fiaz said: "We have got to be driven by a purpose and a mission around fairness and how we encourage and support all of our small businesses in Newham to embrace the living wage. If we are truly committed to creating an environment where all of us feel connected, feel a deep sense of rootedness in our borough and where we are encouraging lives that are led in ways that that are healthy, happy and well, then being accredited by the Living Wage Foundation is exactly the kind of thing we should be rallying around. We need to be part of a movement and a mission that levels up, not levels down."
For more information, visit our information page on becoming a Living Wage employer.