Living Wage Campaign: Manchester City facing fans' pressure to name date and pay all staff enough to cover basic living costs

Exclusive: To date, only Chelsea of the 20 Premier League clubs have made this commitment

Manchester City’s players are the highest paid in world football, according to a survey conducted last year (Getty Images)

Manchester City are facing a grassroots supporters’ campaign to “name the date” on which they will ensure all staff, including those employed by external contractors, are paid the Living Wage.

To date, only Chelsea of the 20 Premier League clubs have made this commitment, vowing to achieve it by 2017. City, whose first-team players are the highest paid in world sport with average earnings in excess of £100,000 a week, at present pay the Living Wage to directly employed staff and have also pledged to do the same for those working on capital projects (such as building works).

Everton and West Ham have made similar promises but the numbers benefiting are limited as the vast majority of low-paid staff at football clubs – such as those in catering, stewarding, security and manning car parks – are employed on match-days via outside contractors. As such, many are paid the minimum wage, £6.50 an hour, which equates to £260 over a 40-hour week.

The Man City Fans Living Wage Campaign will launch an appeal to persuade the Premier League champions, and ultimately also their rivals, to ensure everyone working for them, directly or indirectly, receives at least the Living Wage. This is the sum independently calculated to provide enough to cover basic living costs such as housing, heating and food. It is currently £7.85 an hour outside London, (£314 a week) and £9.15 per hour in the capital.

Would it not be possible for City to set £150,000 aside to lift the wages of the army of match-day contractors? (Getty Images) (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

The campaign group are going public having felt that they have exhausted their efforts to persuade City by lobbying. Initial contact was made via the club chaplain, Rev Pete Horlock, in 2013 and this was followed by payment of the Living Wage to directly employed staff.

The motivation of the activists was both a desire to see football club employees – the ones who serve their half-time burger and clean the stadia after them – paid a decent wage and the hope they would be able to take pride in City leading the way.

City feel that the group misrepresented the last scheduled meeting with them and are subsequently working on the issue internally. They say they are among the most pro-active of clubs in improving staff pay with the majority of contracted employees now on the Living Wage, but are tied by existing contracts.

As these come up for tender – with the most significant being in 2018 – companies pledging to pay the Living Wage will be viewed more favourably in negotiations. Failure to do so is not, however, a deal-breaker.

The supporters are to write to City urging them to “name the date” when all staff will be paid the Living Wage. They are also writing to all City fan groups urging them to join the campaign and lobbying local politicians.

City’s wages were revealed to be the highest in sport by the Sportingintelligence’s Global Sports Salaries Survey 2014, published in conjunction with ESPN.

The survey, which only includes earnings for playing sport, not for external income such as endorsements, covers 294 teams in 15 leagues in 12 countries across seven different sports. After City, the highest payers were the New York Yankees and LA Dodgers of Major League Baseball, Real Madrid and City’s Champions League conquerors from Wednesday night, Barcelona.

The figures for City came from the 2012-13 season, then the latest available. Premier League wages have since increased and are likely to explode again with the new £5.1bn TV deal that comes into force next year.

When that deal was announced the Premier League’s chief executive, Richard Scudamore, said in response to suggestions that it should make the Living Wage mandatory, that the organisation was not a charity and it was the job of politicians – not football clubs – to raise the minimum wage.

Yet Sophie Stephens, the lead organiser of Citizens UK, the charity that created the Living Wage Foundation, said: “We believe that prioritising the pay of those who work at the bottom of the pay scale at the clubs is important to fans and local communities.

“The recent bumper TV deal the Premier League has made demonstrates the amount of money available in the world of football.”

Besides Chelsea, only Hearts, of the Scottish Championship, and non-League FC United are accredited by the Living Wage Foundation. League Two Luton Town are understood to be close to joining them. Stephens added: “The differing size and scale of these clubs show that accrediting as a Living Wage employer is a choice that any club can make.”