BAH! HUMBUGS
A Citizens UK Report on poverty wages in the Premier League
Citizens UK is a civic alliance of more than 350 community organisations working together to make change for the
common good. In 2001, members of Citizens UK founded the Living Wage campaign. The campaign was started by
parents in east end of London who wanted to remain in work but found that despite working two or more minimum
wage jobs they were struggling to make ends meet and had no time left for family or community life.
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The Living Wage Foundation announced the new UK Living Wage rate as £7.65 and the London Living Wage is £8.80.
The Living Wage is calculated independently and is currently helping to lift more than 30,000 low-paid workers out of
working poverty.
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Citizens UK has successfully campaigned to get businesses, local authorities and local organisations to become Living
Wage Employers. There are now more than 450 employers accredited by the Living Wage Foundation. Even during this
difficult economic period, business, political and civic leaders are taking the responsible step to make work pay. !
In 2011, members of North London Citizens voted to win a Living Wage at the two big north London football clubs as
one of their four main priorities. Since then, the members of North London Citizens who are fans, supporters and
neighbours of Arsenal FC and Tottenham Hotspur have been trying to meet with senior executives to seek firm
commitments to become Living Wage employers but so far to no avail. !
Chris Harrington, a member of Islington Citizens, said “I am over 60 years an Arsenal supporter and involved in
Fanshare. At the Arsenal AGM on 17th October, I called on Arsenal to adopt a commitment to the London Living Wage.
Ivan Gazidis, the Arsenal CEO, recognised that the London Living Wage was 'incredibly well intentioned’ but replied that
'the issue is complex and political and in any case Arsenal benefits packages are generous in market terms’. What
Arsenal must be made to realise is that LLW is right, just and economically sound and is a public policy here to stay.
And that we in Citizens UK will not give up and go away”
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The Living Wage movement has reached all around the UK and fans across the country have been taking to steps
encourage their loved clubs to do the right thing and win the race to become the first accredited Living Wage football
club. In Manchester, lifelong Man City fans Nixon Tod, Chris Fabby and Julian Cooke have been working to get their
club to pay the Living Wage. “Like many City fans, we have been really impressed with the developments at Manchester
City in recent seasons, not only on the pitch but off it too. Improvements around the stadium have made the whole
match day experience a real joy. However, we became aware that many of the staff making this success happen were
being paid only the minimum wage so we decided to approach the Club through the club chaplin and find out why. We
were pleased that Manchester City met with us so readily. They listened to us and committed to the Living Wage. They
made an executive decision to become a Living Wage organisation and they have moved to pay their directly employed
staff the Living Wage, including all apprentices and interns. The next step would be for City to extend that commitment
to all the sub-contracted staff. This would affect hundreds of people and make Manchester City the leading living wage
football club in the Premier League.”
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This Citizens UK Report outlines the current state of play for the Living Wage in the Premier League. It includes the stark
comparison between the low paid wages of catering, cleaning and security staff and the net worth of club owners, the
renumeration packages of top CEOs and the top football players.
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Citizens UK hopes this report encourages football clubs to meet with members of Citizens UK, local fan groups and the
Living Wage Foundation. We recommend to all football clubs that they should begin the process of becoming
accredited Living Wage Employers. We are excited to see which club will see the opportunity to win the race and
become the first Living Wage Champions.
THIS CHRISTMAS THERE WILL BE LOTS OF FOOTBALL
MATCHES BUT THE CLEANING AND CATERING STAFF
WILL LOSE WHATEVER THE SCORE.
THE PREMIER LEAGUE HAS THE HIGHEST
REVENUE OF ANY FOOTBALL CLUB LEAGUE IN
THE WORLD, WITH TOTAL CLUB REVENUES OF
£2.057 BILLION IN 2009-10 AND IT’S THE SECOND
MOST PROFITABLE AFTER THE GERMAN
IN 2009, THE AVERAGE PREMIER LEAGUE
FOOTBALLER EARNED AN ESTIMATED £21,600
PER WEEK OR £1.1 MILLION A YEAR
THE AVERAGE SALARY FOR A PREMIER LEAGUE
CEO LAST YEAR WAS £215,879. !
THE AVERAGE SALARY FOR A DIRECTOR OF A
SIMILAR SIZED COMPANY (£249M TURNOVER)
OUTSIDE THE PREMIER LEAGUE WAS £150,876.
NO CLUB IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE, OR ANY
FOOTBALL LEAGUE IS AN ACCREDITED LIVING
WAGE EMPLOYER
AT THE CELTIC FOOTBALL CLUB AGM ON 15TH
NOVEMBER 2013, THE BOARD REJECTED A
PROPOSAL TO MAKE THE CLUB A LIVING WAGE
DESPITE REPORTED PRE-TAX PROFITS OF
£9.74MILLION
IN 2008 MAYOR BORIS JOHNSON WROTE TO ALL
TOP LONDON FOOTBALL CLUBS URGING THEM
TO PAY STAFF A LIVING WAGE. NO CLUBS,
HOWEVER, HAVE ACTED TO DO SO.
The reported annual renumeration
package for Arsenal’s Chief
Executive, Ivan Gazidis, during
2011/12 season was £2,005,000.
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When asked about lifting catering,
cleaning and security staff from the
minimum wage of £6.31 to the
Living Wage of £8.55 at the Arsenal
AGM on 17th October 2013, he
replied:
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DESPITE REPORTING PRE-TAX PROFITS OF
£37MILLION, ARSENAL CONTINUES TO REFUSE
TO MEET FANS AND LOCAL COMMUNITY
GROUPS TO DISCUSS THE LIVING WAGE
WE ESTIMATE CLUBS TO HAVE AN AVERAGE OF
200 - 300 PEOPLE, MOSTLY WORKING AS
CLEANING, CATERING AND SECURITY, BEING
PAID BELOW THE LIVING WAGE
“The London Living Wage
is well intentioned but
the issue is complex and
political and, in any case,
the Arsenal benefits
packages are generous
in market terms”
CITIZENS UK LIVING WAGE PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE
December 2013
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Clubs have been awarded a WIN for meeting with local delegations about the Living
Wage, a DRAW for making a public statement to consider Living Wage and a LOSS
for making no statement or refusing to engage with the Living Wage
CLUB!
+/-
OWNER(S)!
LOWEST
PAY PER
HOUR
(GF)
NET
WORTH OF
OWNERS
(GA)
GD
PTS
1
Manchester City
Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan
£6.31
£20,000,000,000
-200
3
2
Tottenham Hotspur
Joe Lewis (85%)
£6.31
£1,937,000,000
-19
1
3
Everton
Bill Kenwright CBE (25.84%)
£6.31
£33,000,000
0
0
4
Swansea City
Mr and Mrs Martin Morgan (22.5%)
£6.31
£32,000,000
0
0
5
Crystal Palace
Jeremy Hosking (25%)
£6.31
£193,000,000
-1
0
6
West Bromwich Albion
David Gold (30.6%)
£6.31
£250,000,000
-2
0
7
West Ham United
David Sullivan (55.6%)
£6.31
£400,000,000
-4
0
8
Norwich City! !
Delia Smith and Michael Wynn-Jones
£6.31
£500,000,000
-5
0
9
Liverpool
LeBron James
£6.31
£600,000,000
-6
0
10
Aston Villa!
Randy Lerner
£6.31
£630,000,000
-6
0
11
Hull City
Assem Allam
£6.31
£650,000,000
-6
0
12
Stoke City
Peter Coates
£6.31
£750,000,000
-7
0
13
Cardiff City
Vincent Tan (36.1%)
£6.31
£757,000,000
-7
0
14
Sunderland
Ellis Short
£6.31
£1,000,000,000
-10
0
15
Newcastle United
Mike Ashley
£6.31
£1,370,000,000
-13
0
16
Manchester United
Malcolm Glazer
£6.31
£1,640,000,000
-16
0
17
Arsenal
Stan Kroenke (66.83%)
£6.31
£1,800,000,000
-18
0
18
Fulham
Shahid Khan
£6.31
£1,920,000,000
-19
0
19
Southampton
Executors of Markus Liebherr's Estate
£6.31
£1,937,000,000
-19
0
20
Chelsea
Roman Abramovich
£6.31
£10,300,000,000
-103
0
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HOW MANY YEARS WOULD IT TAKE A FULL-TIME
CLEANER TO EARN WHAT A PREMIERSHIP
FOOTBALLER EARNS IN A WEEK?
Eden Hazard
Chelsea FC
Weekly Pay:
£185,000
Yaya Toure
Manchester City
Weekly Pay:
13.5
YEARS
13 YEARS
£180,000
Mesut Ozil Arsenal FC
Weekly Pay:
13 YEARS
£180,000
Wayne Rooney
Manchester United
Weekly Pay:
13 YEARS
£180,000
Robin van Persie
Manchester United
Weekly Pay:
£180,000
13 YEARS
HAFIZ’S STORY: THE IMPACT OF
NOT BEING PAID A LIVING WAGE
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“
My name is Hafiz Kyril and I am a 19 year old A-Level student currently studying at
St. Charles RC College, which is situated in Ladbroke Grove, West London. I was born
in Malaysia and immigrated to England at the age of 13, and since then, I’ve always
aspired to aim high, get into a good university and make my family proud.
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I’ve also always had a passion for business, ever since I was a young boy, and hopefully
I will be looking to continue and turn that passion into a reality. My ambition is to go to
university to that I can learn more and further myself. I can’t rely on my family to fund
my tuition fees or university costs and I am frightened of leaving university with a huge
level of debt. So, a year ago I began working with a local catering company to work
shifts at football stadiums in north London. I use money to help my family when they
need it and to save as much as I can for studying. !
I work mostly at Arsenal but am offered shifts at a number of different venues. The job
itself is very interesting and has equipped me with skills that I will be able to use on later
in life. However, the employment hours are uncertain. You don’t know what shifts you
will work one week to the next and even when shifts are available it usually for only 6-7
hours. This means that my income is never fixed and so in some months, I’ll be able to earn a decent wage whilst in others, I’ll be
earning literally next to nothing. Due to the low wages and unreliability of the job, I’ve been prompted to take other work. At the
moment, as well as working in the football stadiums, I am working at Thorpe Park, near Staines on weekends. This is beginning to
take a toll on my life.
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At the moment I am trying to balance studying and working unsociable and irregular hours. I usually get to sleep about 2am
because I am committed to completing my shifts and then ensuring I meet my home work deadlines and doing extra revisions to be
ahead of the class. I’ve had to completely shut off my social life, no more nights out even if it’s just going to see a friend. Moreover,
I’ve also had to put my two passions, which are rugby and army cadets on hold/pause.
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However, I know what I am going through is nothing compared to some of my other colleague’s. They are all too frightened to
speak out because they are so reliant on the work to ensure their families can survive. I had a mate called David who is 26 and has
two 2 year-old twin daughters. David works three jobs. He is a security guard in a supermarket on his day-shifts, a cleaner on his
night-shifts and works with me at the football stadiums on the weekend. He says working at a football stadium is really long and
the wage isn’t even worth it but he was totally dedicated to earning the money he felt would ensure his daughters are spared the
tough upbringing that he endured. David said that he wanted to provide them with things he couldn’t get when he was growing so
he works all the hours he can, even when the wages are low, the hours are long and the lifestyle is incredibly gruelling.
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The Living Wage campaign is important because everyone who works should be able to earn a decent amount of money. If we
were paid a decent wage, we wouldn’t need two or three jobs and we and we could afford to use the tube rather than the bus.
These little things are really important because it means we can spend a bit more time with our families and loved ones.
,,
Richard Poku, a member of North London Citizens
and part of the Living Wage campaign, was paid
below the Living Wage when he was working as
catering staff for a sub-contractor serving several
north London football stadiums. Richard, 19, took
shifts at Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal and Wembley
Stadium. Most shifts were four hours long and
were paid at £6.19 per hour.
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He said: “It’s ridiculous that people with kids have
to come from so far away to earn basically
nothing. Footballers are earning that much
because people are paying to watch the matches,
and we are the ones catering for them”
WHO SUPPORTS THE LIVING WAGE?
More than 450 employers in the UK are accredited Living Wage
Employers and here are just a few examples of business, politicians and
councils leading the way.
Ed Miliband MP, Leader of the Labour Party
“People who got up early this morning, spent hours getting to work - who are
putting in all the effort they can - but who often don’t get paid enough to look
after their families, to heat their homes, feed their kids, care for their elderly
relatives and plan for the future… Just before the General Election, Citizens
UK came to see me with a cleaner from the Treasury who wasn’t being paid
the living wage. I thought then that if our common life was to mean anything, it
should mean that this hard-working woman, who cleaned the office of the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, should be paid at least the living wage.” (5/11/12)
Mike Kelly, Head of Corporate Responsibility, KPMG
“At KPMG we have found that paying the Living Wage is good for our
business, good for our people and good for our communities. We would
urge more businesses to consider how they can work towards this goal.
Our relationships with our suppliers are stronger and we are constantly
innovating how we deliver high quality service to our clients; the Living
wage helps us to do this. We have a lower turnover in staff, higher
productivity and more flexible people.”
Cllr Heather Joyce, Leader, Cardiff City Council
”From my first day in the job as Leader of this Council, I made it clear that
my guiding principle would be providing the best services possible to the
people of Cardiff… starting with this Council bringing more than 2,000
Council staff up to the Living Wage by September 2012. These staff are
doing some of the most important and challenging jobs in the Council, and
we believe that they should be paid a decent salary for their work. But it is
not only right in terms of Social Justice – it makes sense for the local
economy too, putting a little extra in people's pockets that will help stimulate
businesses across our city.” (4/07/12)
Cllr Andy Hull, Executive Member for Finance, Islington Council
"Arsenal is a massive global football brand, based in one of the world’s
richest cities. They can afford to pay their staff and contractors a Living
Wage, if they choose to. Already top of the football league, we would
love to see them top the wages table too, tackling working poverty by
matching fair play on the pitch with fair pay off it.”
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To make sure everyone has a merry Christmas
this year, Citizens UK is calling for…
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… Premier League football
clubs to meet with Citizens
UK, local fan groups and the
Living Wage Foundation
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… Premier League football
clubs to begin a process of
becoming accredited Living
Wage Employers
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… All senior directors, football
players, fans and supporters to
remember the people that
make your match day magical.
Report written by Sophie Stephens, Lead Organiser, North London Citizens with support from Jose Luis Perez Zapata !