‘Crap jobs’ can indeed be made better

London: ‘In a city with so many billionaires, one in five are paid poverty wages.’ Photograph: Amer Ghazzal/Demotix/Corbis

Aditya Chakrabortty is right to conclude that “crap jobs can be made better” (Opinion, 8 September). Low pay is an increasingly worrying trend in London. In a city with so many billionaires, one in five are paid poverty wages. The inspiring story of the Camden dinner ladies shows us that hard work can and should pay. Low-paid workers deserve a fair wage for their efforts. It is a reminder of an excellent article Aditya wrote last year. Focusing on the fact that hotel cleaners in New York City are paid nearly three times more than their London counterparts, it highlighted the disparity in union organisation between the UK and US – 70% of hotel workers in New York are unionised, compared with just 4% in London. In an increasingly turbulent legislative landscape for trade unions, both cases remind us that the power of organising can and should remain a key conduit to transforming “crap jobs” into a fair living.
Mubin Haq
Director, policy and grants, Trust for London