STINGY construction giants refusing to pay the staff the London living wage will face angry demonstrations in the coming weeks, builders’ union Ucatt said yesterday.

Rates set by the Construction Industry Joint Council currently allow workers on the lowest grade to be paid just £8.52 an hour, 63 pence below the rate independent assessors believe is needed to live without significant state support.

Earlier this month, Ucatt proposed to the council that the agreement would include the living wage as a minimum from June 2016, but this was rebuffed by employers.

London and south-east Ucatt secretary Jerry Swain said: “It is disgusting that employers are boosting their profits by employing construction workers in hard, physically demanding roles at below the rate of pay needed to live on.

“As the employers have blocked the negotiations, then it is time for their greed to be exposed. Workers and the general public need to know who is responsible for ensuring that construction workers are earning a pittance.”