Media employers in London have been urged to pay journalists a minimum of £16,000 a year.
NUJ general secretary Jeremy Dear made the call after London Mayor Ken Livingstone agreed to guarantee all 100,000 workers employed by the Greater London Assembly a minimum wage of at least £7.70 an hour – more than £16,000 a year -for those working a standard 40-hour week.
The figure was calculated by the GLA economic unit as the minimum that people in London needed to live on.
Dear said: “Media employers should follow the example set by the Mayor as a first step towards eradicating the blight of low pay in London.
According to our recent surveys, thousands of journalists in London are earning less than £16,000 a year.
“While such a salary still does not reward journalists adequately, it would be a positive initial step towards ending low pay by ensuring no journalist started on less than £16,000.”
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