The Premier League’s voluntary Living Wage agreement comes into effect at the beginning of the 2016-17 season. Each club from this point on will pay all permanent staff at least a Living Wage.
Given that each club outsources many of its low paid jobs (especially match day staff) to external contractors, however, its impact might be limited.
The objective of the Living Wage campaign is to persuade Premier League clubs to extend the Living Wage agreement by the beginning of next season to all staff – be they employed on a part-time or temporary basis, through agencies or external contractors – working at each club.
For part-time staff at Aston Villa that would mean at least £7.85; currently a third of Villa staff are reported to be on the minimum wage of £6.50.
The AVST were privy to a meeting at the House of Commons recently to discuss the situation and the subject of the Living Wage will very much be on the agenda for the next Premier League Supporters Direct meeting.
Currently only Chelsea Football Club will be paying a Living Wage to all part-time, outsourced and agency staff by 2017, and have been paying the Living Wage to permanent employees since January 2015.
So with Chelsea already leading the way, there is an example of best practice to follow. (Chelsea will be asked why they decided to take this lead, to give an example of the reasoning to other clubs.)
MPs at the recent House of Commons Living Wage meeting, will also table the issue to the Minister for Sport, Tracey Crouch, and see if she could encourage the Premier League to broaden its Living Wage agreement to cover all part-time, outsourced and agency staff, as well as permanent employees.
The Football Supporters Federation (FSF) is expected to do an audit of each Premier League Club to find out numbers and see how widespread the situation is.
Also, all workers on zero-hours contracts earning less than the living wage are encouraged to tell their story, like this Aston Villa worker did on BBC Radio WM.
If you work at Aston Villa as a match day staff or are on a zero-hours contract, please drop the AVST an email at enquiries@villatrust.org.uk to tell your story to help provide a first-hand insight into the situation. You will be of course receive full anonymity.
For further information, see this article on Villa and the Living Wage that appeared in the August 2015 edition of Heroes & Villains.
