NEWS RELEASE
16 March 2016

Wellington and the Living Wage

Joint statement: Wellington City Council and Wellington Chamber of Commerce

In 2013, Wellington City Council decided to work towards becoming a living wage Council and to implement a living wage for its employees. In 2015 it proposed to consider the application of the living wage to its external contracts on a case-by-case basis.

The Chamber announced last year that it was concerned about the ability of the Council to do that under the Local Government Act and signalled its intention to bring judicial review proceedings to determine the issue.

The Council and the Chamber have been constructively discussing the issues raised over recent weeks and are pleased to say that they are working collaboratively towards a potential solution that would enhance the Council’s policy of providing leadership on the living wage and provide a clear position going forward on the use of the living wage with external contractors, which the Chamber was seeking.

Legal proceedings will not be issued as the Council and the Chamber seek to finalise their discussions and they look forward to being able to share news of the outcome of those discussions within the next few weeks.

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