Many bosses and not paying their workers a living minimum wage in east London.

The shock findings for hourly pay rates in most of east London were revealed on Monday by the TUC from House of Commons statistics.

They show a quarter of all firms in the West Ham Parliamentary constituency, 25pc, and a third in neighbouring East Ham, 33pc, pay less than London’s official £9.15 rate.

It is worse in Chingford & Woodford Green, with almost half the firms paying rates below the minimum, and little better in the rest of east London.

“Working families have experienced the biggest squeeze on their living standards since Victorian times,” TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said.

“Pay has been squeezed at all levels below the boardroom—the government’s mantra about ‘making work pay’ is completely out of touch with reality.”

The TUC is calling for “a far wider commitment to pay the living wage” to drive up productivity and set higher minimum rates in industries “where employers can afford to pay their staff more”.

Only three east London constituencies beat the 18pc London average — Poplar & Limehouse at 7.5pc, Bethnal Green & Bow and Hackney North & Shoreditch at 13pc each.

The national Living Wage campaign was launched 10 years ago by Telco, The East London Communities Organisation, with its first victory in the Canary Wharf banks signing a pledge to pay decent rates to their cleaners and maintenance staff.