Every morning at 5am, I’d skip breakfast and start my job cleaning city offices for two hours.
I then travelled across London to start a second job as a waitress at a cafe that served typical Colombian food like empanadas, rice and arepas. I would arrive starving – with still no time or money for breakfast – and start mopping the floors, wiping down tables and serving customers. I’d usually work a four-hour shift.
The thing is, this cafe paid just £4 an hour – which was below the national minimum wage at the time of 2008 for my age bracket – but I accepted the job because it included ‘free’ lunch. This meant that I was having my first proper meal of the day at midday.
After this, I’d attend my English courses for the day, and then clean again at another job.
Now, 15 years on, things are a lot less chaotic for me, but so many jobs continue to pay below the real Living Wage and workers are still finding themselves where I once was. It’s a disgrace.
When I decided to come to the UK from Colombia in 2008, I was so optimistic.
I came to learn English and I immediately fell in love with London. I felt like you could be whoever you wanted in this city.
But quickly, I realised how difficult it would be to afford to stay. I wasn’t afraid of hard work so I took the aforementioned multiple jobs.
My first few months were awful. I came in November and it was bleak, lonely and raining all the time.
Although I found work within a week of arriving in the UK, I had to stick to a strict budget – and even then, there were months I couldn’t meet my needs.
I gave myself £10 a week for groceries so I was surviving on staple foods like plain rice, which I would get for 30p. I was used to eating on a budget and regularly relied on large yoghurt pots for 80p or £1 burger vouchers.
Every day, I felt like I was losing money, losing weight and losing sleep.
Being paid so little affected every aspect of my life. My working day would often end at 10pm, and I would get home completely exhausted.
I felt demoralised, frustrated and incredibly sad. I was working constantly, but could barely afford to survive, let alone live fully.
There was one month in particular when I had to renew both my English course and student visa for around £1,000 altogether, so I had £1 left in my account to feed myself. I felt utterly helpless.
I remember speaking to my brother that day and he said he would give me some money so I could eat for the rest of the month. I had never relied on anyone but myself, but the sheer desperation of my situation meant I accepted it.
Thankfully, in the last few years, my life has started to change.
After the first lockdown ended in June 2020, I discovered Empoderando Familias through a community WhatsApp group, which is a space run by people from Latin American communities that organises with Citizens UK to take action on issues like low pay and mental health.
Due to the pandemic, all interactions were online. But even then, talking with other people who wanted to make a difference after experiencing some of the same financial and emotional struggles started to shape me.
With this new sense of belonging, I slowly felt myself becoming whole again.
Now, I run my own business helping members of my community with their employment problems, explaining their rights and ensuring employers are not exploiting them.
When I was asked by a community organiser at Citizens UK to be a part of their ‘Making London a Living Wage City’ campaign in April last year, I said ‘yes’ almost instantly. The campaign aims to put wages back into the pockets of low-paid workers by urging businesses in London to pay their employees a real Living Wage.
As a worker leader on the project’s steering group, I help to shape the campaign and be a voice for low-paid workers. Then, in May last year, I found myself sitting around a table with London Mayor Sadiq Khan and the Bishop of London.
I shared stories about the times I chose between heating or eating and the effect this had on my life. I had a duster on the table in front of me while I spoke because I wanted to represent cleaners. Both the Mayor and Bishop listened attentively to me and expressed their commitment to tackle low pay.
Hearing that, I felt the confidence that I had lost returning.
The issue of low pay remains so close to my heart. It makes me sad to know there are people right now who are living how I was 15 years ago – working hard but still in poverty.
I feel honoured that I can be a voice for cleaners and other low-paid workers to encourage more employers to pay their workers a real Living Wage.
With the cost-of-living crisis, too many low-paid workers are worrying about whether they can afford to turn the heating on during winter or if they’ll be able to afford groceries. This shouldn’t happen in one of the richest cities in the world.
So I will continue to fight because people like me deserve a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work.
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