Wednesday, 16 March 2011

The Government are determined to force minimum wage workers to bear the brunt of rising costs of living, with no effective pay increase when the minimum wage rises on 1 April, says Labour’s spokesperson on labour issues Darien Fenton.

“The Government has let the lowest paid workers in New Zealand down by ignoring advice from the Department of Labour that an increase in the minimum wage to $13.50 an hour was affordable and would have almost no impact on jobs.

“Departmental advice to the Minister of Labour was that an increase in the minimum wage of just 25 cents was not an increase in real terms. However $13.50 an hour could assist 108,000 workers and put $76 million into their pockets and the economy,” Darien Fenton said.

“Instead the Government chose an option that will mean most workers will see almost no difference in their pay.

“That additional $76 million would have assisted the New Zealand economy, because low income workers spend a higher proportion of their earnings.

“It would have helped families on the margins cope better with the rapidly rising cost of living, including petrol costs, increases in rent, food and power, but the truth is that the 25 cents minimum wage increase won’t even pay for a block of cheese, or a litre of milk.

“The Minister tried to justify her decision in the House today saying that an increase in the minimum wage to $13.50 would cost jobs. However, the advice was that any impact on newly created jobs was negligible.

“The Government has let down our lowest paid workers once again and condemned them to falling even further behind,” Darien Fenton said.

ENDS

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