Leader of Brent Council, Muhammed Butt, surrounded by young Brent citizens calling for him to act on the Living Wage (Photo: Amanda Rose @amandarosephoto)
Over 50 members of Brent
Citizens – including school pupils, teachers and parents on minimum wage jobs
struggling to make ends meet – gathered in the foyer of Brent Civic Centre tonight dressed up like Santa to
sing Christmas carols and to put Brent Council’s Leader Cllr Muhammed Butt and
the Cabinet Lead for Employment, Cllr Eleanor Southwood, on the community’s
“Naughty List” this Christmas, following the Council’s u-turn on their public
pledge to make Brent a Living Wage Borough.
School students remind Cllr Butt of his public pledge (Photo: Amanda Rose @amandarosephoto)
They urged the councillors to
renew their commitment and champion the Living Wage across the Borough,
including at the Old Oak Common and Park Royal regeneration site in the south
of the Borough, which is set to generate 56,000 new local jobs, though it
remains unclear whether those jobs will guarantee a Living Wage or not.
As the cost of living
crisis continues to push more people into poverty, Brent Council has
backtracked on their pledge to work hand in hand with community leaders,
workers on low pay and local Living Wage Employers on a 3-year collaborative
journey to make Brent a Living Wage Borough.
This commitment was made by
the re-elected Council Leader Muhammed Butt to over 150 local residents at a
Brent Citizens Accountability Assembly held at Ark Academy in Wembley just two
weeks before the local elections on 5th May this year. Moreover,
this same commitment was printed black on white on Brent Labour’s own Election
Manifesto, shared with thousands of households in the run up to polling day.
With 24,400 workers earning
less than the London Living Wage, Brent suffers from one of the highest rates
of residents earning less than the London Living Wage, which increased from
£11.05 to £11.95 this year in line with the rising cost of living, and which is
significantly higher than the minimum wage of £9.50 an hour.
Singing Living Wage themed
carols to the tune of Jingle Bells, the diverse community group donned
Santa hats and Christmas jumpers to encourage Brent Council to rethink its
plans. Students from Brent Citizens’ member schools have hand-made two sets of
Christmas stockings: some filled with sweets, others filled with coal. Which
ones Cllrs Butt and Southwood will receive, will depend on whether they renew
their commitment to tackle in-work poverty together.
Tarik El Farjani, Y11
student at Ark Academy and Maryam Syed, Y10 student at Al Zahra School, both
leaders with Brent Citizens, said:
Brent’s Labour Manifesto
published ahead of the local elections is entitled ‘Moving Forward Together and
Leaving No One Behind’, but Cllr Butt and Cllr Southwood’s actions speak louder
than words and are anything but that. We are extremely disheartened by the
Council’s shocking u-turn. The two of us stood on stage in front of Cllr Butt
at the Brent Citizens Accountability Assembly, when he looked us in the eye and
publicly committed to making Brent a Living Wage Borough and the Old Oak Common
site a Living Wage Zone
Brent Labour's Manifesto pledge
Marlon Legister-King,
teacher at Newman Catholic College and leader with Brent Citizens said:
At our College, we are
proud to teach our young people that commitments matter. The Council has set a
bad example that lowers young people’s faith in politics and democracy. They
are the workers of tomorrow, as well as the voters of tomorrow. We are all
already feeling the impact of this cost of living crisis. Now is the time to do
more, not less, to tackle poverty at its roots and make Brent a place where
workers are guaranteed a Living Wage.
Mina, cleaner on the
minimum wage at a school in Brent, said:
I’m a cleaner at a school
in Brent which does not pay the Living Wage. When the Council first committed
to working with Brent Citizens and the Living Wage Foundation, I was filled
with hope. Employers like mine need to be encouraged to accredit as Living Wage
Employers. To hear that Brent Council is making accreditation optional is an
incredible shame. It is only through accreditation that employers are compelled
to increase wages year on year, in line with the cost of living. My rent and
bills have increased, whereas my wage is still the same. We need more
accredited Living Wage Employers in Brent!
After speaking to the the students Cllr Butt agreed to at least meet with Brent Citizens again to revive the plan to 'Make Brent A Living Wage Borough.'
Following the Brent Citizens' Action he tweeted:
