It was an evening shift with a difference for the ISS cleaning operatives at KPMG’s Bristol office, when the leader of the Labour Party, Ed Miliband, paid an out of hours visit to meet them and discuss the Living Wage
Keen to hear first-hand how being paid a fair rate of pay makes a difference to their lives, Mr Miliband requested a one to one with each team member comprising Angela Francis, Mark Ellington, Deeq Amed and Fahan Mohamed.
And he heard from Operations Manager Ashley Winter, who reiterated ISS’ commitment as a Living Wage employer, citing that it had been introduced as early as 2006 in some cases and resulted in a number of benefits, including improved staff turnover.
In fact, ISS recently became one of the first major FM companies to sign the Living Wage Foundation’s Service Provider Accreditation which sees the company formally commit to paying a Living Wage for all support staff employed on the ISS estate, and to including a Living Wage option in all tender submissions.
Choosing KPMG to visit because of its reputation as a long-standing Living Wage employer, the opposition leader’s appearance came just a few days before his announcement, during the recent Living Wage Week, to incentivise employers to pay the Living Wage.
His plans to introduce Make Work Pay contracts aim to encourage businesses to give every low paid worker a rise by offering a 12 month tax rebate of up to £1,000 for those who pay the Living Wage rates.
A spokesman for Ed Miliband said: “Ed was extremely pleased with how the visit went and had some good conversations with the staff that were all very positive about their experiences.”
Chris Newman, Facilities Workplace Regional Manager, KPMG said: “Overall the visit went really well, the ISS staff were excited to meet Ed and have an opportunity to discuss how the Living Wage benefits them, but also share experiences about friends that are not on Living Wage.”