Minimum wage goes up to
$20 an hour
The minimum wage will increase to $20 an hour on April 1 with the Government following through on its election commitment.
The deadline has been welcomed by the Council of Trade Unions saying it will help the New Zealanders who are the “working poor” facing rent rises.
But National workplace relations spokesman Scott Simpson called the commitment “a cynical reannouncement” of the last Government’s promise, and a policy designed to draw attention away from the pressure on Speaker Trevor Mallard.
Simpson said the minimum wage rise had been signalled last term and questioned why a press statement was issued on the day Mallard was grilled by a select committee on his $330,000 defamation case. “It’s just cynical.” Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety Michael Wood unveiled the April deadline for increasing the minimum wage and said it would mean a $44 a week pay rise for about 175,500 Kiwis.
The increase was estimated to boost wages across the economy by $216 million which meant more spending power.
“There are many Kiwis who earn the minimum wage that have gone above and beyond in our fight against Covid. I think everyone agrees those who served us so well during lockdown — including supermarket workers, cleaners, and security guards — deserve a pay rise,” Wood said.
The previous coalition Government committed to boosting wages to $20 per hour by 2021 and Labour included the promise in its election manifesto.
Wood said signalling the wage increases over the past three years meant businesses had certainty and time to prepare.
Council of Trade Unions president Richard Wagstaff said minimum wage increases were really important and mean a lot for the many “working poor” who were facing rent increases.
Wagstaff rubbished the argument that minimum wage increases led to job losses and said “the facts have not borne that out one bit”.
Advice from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment on April’s increase from $17.70 to $18.90 estimated about 65,000 job losses.
“Their forecasts and Treasury’s on this issue are consistently wrong, wrong, wrong and I think have very little credibility.”
Simpson said the increase would put more pressure on businesses which shouldn’t be the ones to pick up the responsibility of increasing wages because the Government hadn’t done enough to curb rent increases.
The starting-out and training minimum wages will also rise to $16.00 per hour, to remain at 80 per cent of the adult minimum wage.