Wellington Council urged to cross finish line to implement Living Wage

Living Wage Wellington has told Wellington City Council that they need to speed up progress on fair pay to fully implement the Living Wage.

The Living Wage Movement Aotearoa NZ is calling on the council to commit to becoming an accredited Living Wage Employer in its 2016/17 Annual Plan.

The Movement, including affected workers, will present its submission to the full council today, at 2.20pm at the Council offices in Wakefield Street.

The submission applauds the progress that Council has made towards the Living Wage, but says that it now needs to fully deliver on its commitment to a Living Wage.

Living Wage Wellington spokesperson, Paul Barber says the submission had three key asks for Council as part of its annual plan.

“WCC needs to make sure council staff are paid the current Living Wage rate of $19.80 per hour, instead of its current minimum of $18.55.

“It also needs to stage implementation to all staff, including workers in CCOs and those employed via contractors.

“We are calling on council to become a fully-accredited Living Wage employer by June 2018. We’re still on track to becoming New Zealand’s first Living Wage city, but we need to keep moving to get there.”

Tasi Leasi, a Wellington City Council cleaner and father of three, will be part of the delegation.

Tasi is paid the minimum wage of $15.25 an hour and is quoted in the submission: “I work six days a week to feed my family. If I was paid the Living Wage my children would have a father.”

The Movement has costed the implementation of the full Living Wage for all Council workers and contracted workers at less than a cent a day per resident.

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