London mayor says $460K fee 'chicken feed'

London mayor says $460K fee 'chicken feed'

Jul 15, 2009 04:30 AM
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REUTERS NEWS AGENCY

LONDON – Outspoken London Mayor Boris Johnson came under trade union fire yesterday for describing as "chicken feed" the $460,000 second salary he earns for writing a weekly newspaper column for the Daily Telegraph.

Workers on London's transport network, which ultimately is headed by the mayor, reacted angrily to Johnson's comments, which he made in an interview with the BBC.

"Transport workers in London will look at Boris Johnson's claim that £250,000 a year for moonlighting in a second job is `chicken feed' and wonder just what planet he's living on," said Bob Crow, head of the RMT transport union. "Our members working as cleaners on London Underground ... are out there doing dirty jobs for little more than £6 an hour."

Johnson also earns a mayoral salary of $260,000 a year. In the interview, he was asked whether he thought having a high-paying second job was appropriate alongside his busy mayoral role.

"I don't presume to ask what you earn from the taxpayer and frankly there's absolutely no reason at all why I should not on a Sunday morning, before I do whatever else I need to do ... knock off an article," Johnson said.

He has caused controversy before, angering the residents of Liverpool after describing them as having a "deeply unattractive psyche."

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http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/666374

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