CLEANING and security workers at the Nationwide Building Society are set to protest today over claims they are not being paid the living wage, despite the firm pledging to pay the rate.

But the award-winning Swindon company has defended its position and said all employees will be paid a minimum of the living wage ahead of schedule, according to Living Wage Foundation rules.

Members of the GMB union say the firm has failed to keep promises to pay all staff the living wage and will stage a protest outside the building society’s town centre branch, in Regent Street, today.

GMB’s regional organiser Carole Vallelly accused Pipers Way-based Nationwide, which in April last year pledged to pay all permanent staff, contractors and temporary workers a living wage of at least £7.65 an hour, or £8.80 in London, compared to the minimum wage of £6.31, of hypocrisy after it emerged Carillion staff at Nationwide sites did not receive a living wage.

But Nationwide, which also became a Principal Partner of the Living Wage Foundation last spring, said altering contracts to ensure all staff working on their sites were employed on the living wage could not happen overnight.

And it said the Living Wage Foundation, which leads the campaign, gave companies three years after signing up to implement necessary changes.

Carole said: “The hypocrisy of Nationwide is breath-taking. The cleaners and security staff at Nationwide offices are employed by contractor Carillion and seem to be invisible to Nationwide when it comes to the Living Wage.

“GMB is calling for Nationwide to not only immediately practise what they preach and pay the Living Wage but to backdate the pay increase to April 2014 when Nationwide gained such great publicity for their support of this very campaign.”

Nationwide’s head of citizenship Stephen Uden said all employees at the company, which employs about 7,000 people in Swindon alone, would receive a minimum of the living wage nine months ahead of schedule – by April next year.

He confirmed Nationwide would not work with contractors which did not pay staff on Nationwide sites the living wage.

“I am disappointed the union are taking this action because we both want fairer wages,” he said.

“We will be working it into the contract we have with Carillion.

“The GMB appears to have misunderstood the Living Wage Foundation’s rules which recognise that implementing the living wage can take some time as companies work with their contractors to introduce the new rate.

“We pay all our employees the Living Wage. We also expect all those who carry out work at Nationwide but who are employed by other companies to be paid the Living Wage by next April – nine months ahead of the schedule agreed with the Living Wage Foundation.”

A Carillion spokesman said: “Carillion is committed to working with Nationwide to implement the Living Wage for all of our staff on this contract in the timescales agreed with Nationwide.”