Policy position: Minimum wage must go up - Greens
The Green Party is calling for a substantial increase to the
minimum wage,
as part of its commitment to social equity
and local economic development.
Enterprise and Employment
spokesperson Sue Bradford, speaking at the West
Auckland
District Council of Social Services Political Forum today,
said the
Green Party believed an increase was possible as
part of a shift by New
Zealand away from "a low-wage
servant of globalisation to a work-rich
nation".
New
Zealand's minimum adult wage of $7 per hour was 42.5 per
cent of the
average wage, compared to an OECD
recommendation it be set at 68 per cent,
Ms Bradford
said.
"It's grossly exploitative," she said. "It is simply
unjust for employers to
pay people less than it costs to
live, let alone support a family."
The Trade Union
Federation proposed a minimum wage raise to $8.25 an
hour.
Ms Bradford said the Green Party was sympathetic to
TUF arguments and
believed Green policies would create
conditions which allowed a meaningful
increase in the
minimum wage.
"Just as we believe those who pollute must
face the true costs of their
action, so we believe that
the social costs of low-pay must be faced up to
by
business rather than passed on to the community and the
taxpayer," she
said.
"The core of ensuring an adequate
minimum income is ensuring that we create
an economy that
is rich in jobs and uses resources sparingly. We must
accept
the challenge of creating work with dignity rather
than McJobs."
Ms Bradford said the Green Party's Buy Local
campaign, support for a
community bank and switching
taxes from work to pollution were steps towards
helping
protect and boost real jobs for New Zealanders and so
helping moves
towards increasing the minimum wage.
Sue
Bradford: 025 243
4239