Greens slam Labour for dodging 10:1 pay ratio in Reading

A Green Party councillor in Reading has highlighted how his party pushed for a 10:1 pay ratio, but the Labour council found a way to avoid it.

In Reading we forced the Labour council to implement this for council employees, but now they circumvent it by hiring employees like cleaners through contractors as though they don't count. Still claim to be a 10:1 employer though. Cannot be trusted. https://t.co/UldMrmqL6x

— Cllr Dr Dave McElroy (@DaveJMcElroy) April 19, 2026

And of course telling us that they're sorry, but it's pretty much out of their control when we raise it.

— Cllr Dr Dave McElroy (@DaveJMcElroy) April 20, 2026

The Green Party is pushing for:

the introduction of a 10:1 pay ratio which would help increase wages for those on lower incomes while limiting the salaries of high-paid executives.

The party wants this popular measure in order to:

end the ‘normalisation’ of food banks and tackle the ‘affordability crisis’.

Other measures include energy bill support, free school meals, rent controls, and a customs union with the EU.

The High Pay Centre and Equality Trust have previously insisted that a 10:1 pay ratio would help:

to tackle an economy that prioritises excessive rewards at the top over sustainable investment and fair wages

New Economics Foundation project Change the Rules, meanwhile, has said such a ratio is necessary because of the:

toxic levels of inequality which damages people and imposes significant costs on society.

Green Party ‘leading the way’ in opposition on Reading Council

In 2025, Reading Council Green Party leader Rob White said in a letter that his party had “led the way” on this issue because it:

successfully pushed for the council to agree to a 10:1 pay ratio. That means the top council officer cannot earn more than ten times the lowest-paid worker. This is about fairness, respect, and recognising the contribution of every worker.

As “the main opposition party”, the Greens made a difference. And the council website states that:

We aim to maintain a ratio of no more than 1:10 between our lowest and highest paid staff.

But as Green Councillor Dave McElroy said the Labour council avoids implementing this properly:

by hiring employees like cleaners through contractors as though they don’t count.

This is a tactic Greens elsewhere in the country are familiar with too:

Yeah Labour here outsourced the toilet cleaners, longer hours and shite pay.

When we took administration out Cllrs brought them back in house and raised their pay.

— Alexander Louis Sallons (@sallonsax) April 20, 2026

McElroy stressed that the pledge to back the 10:1 pay ratio is very popular, apart from among people intent on:

leaping to the defense of the masters

This 10:1 palaver is triggering all the right people and giving hope to the rest of us.

Always stunned by the amount of people leaping to the defense of the masters they seem to love more than they love themselves. pic.twitter.com/ZxFvgxRWra

— Cllr Dr Dave McElroy (@DaveJMcElroy) April 15, 2026

And with a long list of Green candidates from Reading and beyond also pledging to oppose austerity at a local level, the Greens really are outflanking Labour from the left.

Featured image via the Canary