PRESS RELEASE

The campaign for a living wage comes to Mangere Bridge this Saturday, with a picnic to raise the minimum wage and reduce inequality in New Zealand.

Green Party CoLeader Metiria Turei and Unite Union organiser Rima Taraia will speak at the Pasifika Greens Picnic for a $15 Minimum Wage this Saturday at Ambury Park.

The picnic – from 12.30pm to 3.30pm - promotes both organisations’ goal to raise the minimum wage. There will be a sausage sizzle and games.

Unite hopes to collect enough petition signatures (300,000 plus) to hold a Citizens Initiated Referendum. Voters would decide whether the minimum wage should be raised to $15. To achieve their goal Unite is working with many organisations including Pasifika Greens.

Joe Carolan, campaign organiser for Unite, says: “We’re running this campaign because we believe New Zealanders deserve a living wage. The current minimum wage of $12.50 is too low to survive on in many of our cities.

“We have already collected many thousands of signatures. This picnic is a chance to celebrate and inform Manukau City residents about the campaign.”

Metiria Turei says the Green Party is proud to support Unite’s campaign for a $15 min/wage as it will benefit the poorest in our society.

“New Zealand is one of the most unequal societies in the developed world. Ground-breaking research this year has shown that many social problems such as ill-health, violence, drugs, obesity and mental illness are worse in unequal societies – we need to share our wealth around more fairly.

“Having been a single mother on the benefit I know what it is like to struggle to survive on little money. This campaign helps those who need it most.”

Unite’s petition asks: “Should the adult minimum wage be raised in steps over the next three years, starting with an immediate rise to $15 per hour, until it reaches 66 percent of the average total hourly earnings as defined in the Quarterly Employment Survey?”

ENDS

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