London Mayor Sadiq Khan is setting his sights on the so-called “ethnic pay gap” while the capital is gripped by crime.
The Labour politician cited a pay audit which claims Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) municipal employees are paid “up to” 37 per cent less than white employees “on average” — but type of job, hours worked, etc. are not taken into account.
“I am deeply troubled that members of the black, Asian and minority ethnic community who work at these organisations earn on average less than their white counterparts, and I am determined to confront this inequality,” Khan declared.
“This sort of injustice takes many years to develop and it becomes deeply entrenched. My administration is finally beginning the process of turning this around.”
The alleged “ethnic pay gap” varied between workforces, standing at 16.7 per cent at the Metropolitan Police, 9.8 per cent for Transport for London (TfL) staff, and not existing at all in the London fire brigade, according to The Guardian.
“The report makes it very clear that the pay of police officers and staff in the Met is determined by role, with no reference to ethnicity. Individuals of different ethnic backgrounds who undertake the same role, have the same length of service and work the same hours, receive the same pay,” a police spokesman explained.
“However, a gap emerges when the average pay of BME officers and staff in the Met is compared to the average pay of their white colleagues due to a number of factors including: less length of service for BME officers and staff; fewer BME officers and staff in higher-paid roles; and historical allowances such as rent and housing allowance that some colleagues with longer service still receive. The Met is working hard to address the gap.”
The mayor’s decision to focus precious energy and resources on tackling an arguably non-existent pay gap will prove controversial, given the capital is currently in grips of a major crime wave, facing double-digit increases in knife crime, gun crime, rape, and youth homicide, as well as an acid attack epidemic and an unprecedented terror threat from hundreds of returned Islamic State jihadists.
Police leaders, for their part, are already working hard to reduce the number of white men in the Met, using loopholes in the Equality Act to exclude them from important training and development workshops.
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