Withdrawal of Real Living Wage branded 'disgraceful'

The CWU communications union has warned the Capita outsourcing giant it may soon be hit by strikes over a "disgraceful" decision to withdraw the voluntary Real Living Wage (RLW) to its workers, with most losing around £850 a year.

The union represents Capita employees on BBC, VM02 and Tesco Mobile contracts.

It says the company decided to pay the RLW in 2019, when Capita CEO Jon Lewis said paying the company's "lifeblood" made "commercial sense".

Capita made a more than £33 million profit in 2023, and Lewis and chief finance officer Tim Weller earned a combined total of nearly £3 million between them in that period.

"It is astonishing that Capita have moved to slash the wages of hard-working employees during the worst cost-of-living crisis of the century," said a CWU spokesperson.

"This callous choice will massively impact on the living standards of those who have guaranteed the company's profits in trying times.

"We urge Capita's leadership to change its tune or face the potential of serious industrial disruption."

Meanwhile, Unite Hospitality has mounted a campaign calling on the BrewDog brewery and pub chain to reverse its "outrageous" decision to withdraw the RLW from bar workers. Unite says this "has been a cornerstone of BrewDog's public identity since 2014". In a petition on the Megaphone website, the union blasted the "real-terms pay cut for hard-working frontline staff".