We Don’t Want Second Homes. We Just Want Fairness!
A letter from Unite has been circulated to Newham councillors. The author notes that whilst many Newham councillors own multiple residential properties, his members struggle to pay for one. He also notes that the allowances many Newham councillors get are greater than the annual wage of his members.
What he doesn’t say, but what he could have, is that in order to collect their £22.5 k per year salary, Newham’s refuse workers have to work eight hours a day for five days a week. For some of them this involves working weekends. For all of them it involves getting up in the hours of darkness in order to get to the depot in time to start their shift. It involves working in all weathers, from 80-degree heat to the snow and rain of winter.
By contrast, Newham councillors are required to attend ONE MEETING every six months. And this can be done from their living room via Zoom. Of course, it is very rare for any councillor to go to ONLY one meeting in six months, though those readers with a longer memory will recall that the current deputy mayor once failed to do even that.
At ON, we don’t object to councillors receiving allowances. But it is reasonable to ask what value we as residents get, from the significant sums that are being paid to our representatives; for most of them, their council allowance is a second income. We are not convinced that we are getting value for money. The impression is that councillors get paid, simply for keeping a seat warm, not for the value they bring to the council or to constituents.
This in turn leads to the widespread belief that the mayor is simply using special responsibility allowances to bolster her own support within the Labour Group. Essentially, “buying votes”. Good for her, we guess. Not so good for the rest of us. Those who pay her wages.
Here is the letter sent from the National Organiser for Unite, Onay Kasab.
REFUSE WORKERS FIGHTING FOR A LIVING WAGE – WHILE COUNCILLORS CLAIM GENEROUS ALLOWANCES AND OWN MORE THAN ONE HOME
Dear Councillor
You will of course be aware that Unite The Union members working for Refuse Services at Newham Council are on strike. All we are looking for is fairness in the face of ever increasing costs. All we want is fair pay.
It has not escaped our members attention that while they are denied a fair wage, Councillors receive generous allowances paid for by Council tax payers. This is on top of jobs that Councillors may have outside of the Councillor role. The Register of Interests on the Council website shows that there are a substantial number with jobs outside of the Councillor role.
According to the Council website the allowances include:
Mayor £87,997
Special Responsibility Allowances £36,937 (additional £5432 paid to Deputy Mayor)
Chairs / Deputies £19,555
Basic Allowances £11,779 (paid to everybody)
The simple fact is that many Councillors will receive more in allowances than our members do in wages. Newham pays its loaders an average of £22,500 per year.
The unfairness does not stop here however. The register of Councillor Interests shows the following Councillors own properties in addition to the property they live in:
Zulfiqar Ali
Ann Easter
Anthony McAlmont
Shaban Mohammed
Salim Patel
Mohammed Muzibar Rahman
Rohina Rahman
Winston Vaughan
Harvinder Singh Virdee
There are Councillors, according to the register, who own 4 properties. Yet we have members struggling to pay for the one and only home they live in.
But the Council obviously feels comfortable with this unfairness. That’s obviously why they refuse to engage in meaningful negotiation.
ITS TIME FOR FAIRNESS. WE DON’T WANT SECOND HOMES OR SECOND INCOMES. WE JUST WANT FAIR PAY!!!
And then there are the optics. “Overpaid councillors” with a second income; millionaire property owners; part-timers with no real responsibility combine to deny some of the lowest paid workers a cost-of-living rise.
It don’t look good for the party of the workers.
*We’d be delighted if any Newham councillor would like to offer a contribution showing how they added value to the life of the council and the borough.