UnNews:Chelsea to become first Premier League club to pay living wage
Friday, December 12, 2014
The move which will come into effect in the new year means players at the club will be paid at least £822 an hour.
It follows a long-running campaign by Labour MPs to get professional football clubs to become accredited ‘living wage’ employers.
Chelsea FC today became the first Premier League football club to agree to pay every worker a decent wage. Chelsea’s decision piles pressure on the other premiership clubs who are lagging behind the progressive Chelsea.
Players like Didier Drogba and Eden Hazard are now able to travel to and from work in private helicopters whereas Manchester United's Wayne Rooney is still stuck driving his £166,000 Aston Martin Vanquish to work. “Sometimes I get into work and my foot hurts from all the accelerating,” says Rooney “and then it's really hard to kick the ball, like. Is it so much to ask for just a few more quid from the club so I can afford a Gulfstream?”
The living wage is currently £7.85 an hour outside London, £9.15 an hour in the capital and £822 if you can kick a ball into a net with decent degree of efficiency.
Chelsea said it would ensure the living wage was also paid for staff working for external contractors, such as Fernando Torres who, on loan to AC Milan, only earns £750 an hour.
Boris Johnson, the Tory Mayor of London, added: “Our great football teams are household names around the world, their every action is scrutinised in microscopic detail. It’s only fair we give their players a little bit more money.”
Sources[edit | edit source]
- BBC "Chelsea FC Makes Living Wage Commitment" BBC, December 11, 2014