TO BE FAIR

I wish to reply to Mrs Upston’s response to Mr Antoni Williams [letter June 14].

Mrs Upston wrote of the Government’s latest budget announcement - a ‘‘$2billion pay equity settlement delivered over 5 years – will help to ensure we have a higher paid, more skilled and engaged work force caring for around 110,000 of New Zealand’s most vulnerable’’.

Mrs Upston has omitted to tell the public that the care workers had to take a case to the courts to get a judgement on their pay increase. This pay increase was not given willynilly out of the National Government’s benevolence. They were made to pay under duress by order of the Courts.

In this election year National Party MPS are giving the impression that workers and pensioners are given a political inducement to vote for the Tories. In fact pensioners will not be getting a further increase until the 1st April 2018.

If it is good enough for MP’S to be given a pay rise and have it back dated 6 months, then this should be good enough for everyone.