Essential workers deserve a living wage

Every single person in Aotearoa is deserving of dignity. Our dignity is dependent on our quality of life, which is tied to our income. A decent income for decent work allows us to make choices to live a good life.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the role of our essential service workers. Whether they are a nurse, supermarket worker, cleaner, or anybody else helping to provide an essential service, they are risking their own health, and that of their families, to do the work that is keeping Aotearoa afloat.

I simply cannot understand how it is fair that someone who restocks the shelves to keep food on our tables goes home and struggles to put food on theirs. I can’t understand how it’s allowed that the people keeping our hospitals clean and open, working night and day, might be struggling to pay rent.

The Covid-19 lockdown has highlighted inequalities that have existed since long before the pandemic, and it’s making us ask ourselves some tough questions. One of these rings loud: how can we allow our essential workers, who get up and leave their bubble every day in the midst of a pandemic to do work, to be paid anything less than a wage they can live on?

Supermarket workers have described recently the abuse they have to deal with. This includes racism, violence, and even being spat on. Putting up with rude, sometimes abusive, customers is not new. The difference is now that some customers are even more stressed out, impatient, and panicked.

Supermarket staff are exposed to hundreds of people a day. They are not immune to Covid-19. At home they have families, kids, and kauma¯ tua. Their workplaces remain open and operational at the frontline of a crisis, and they and their wha¯ nau face a level of risk that we, in the safety of our own bubbles, do not have to worry about. Supermarket staff are feeling this stress every day, and are doing it for less than a living wage.

They aren’t the only ones dealing with this kind of pressure. The responsibility on cleaning staff has always been high, despite the pay being very low. Clean and hygienic infrastructure is a far more important part of maintaining public health than we realise. In the face of Covid-19, this responsibility is enormous.

In the sterile halls of our healthcare system, or on the polished floors of your local supermarket, cleaners are on the frontline of preventing an outbreak. We can use these facilities with peace of mind, knowing that someone has worked hard to keep them clean – someone who deserves a living wage.

Realising that there are people working day and night to keep us, our families, and our communities safe is comforting. Appreciating how vital the work our essential workers do is important, now more than ever. With this realisation comes a big responsibility; we must advocate for every single essential worker to receive a wage they can live on.

The living wage is the annually adjusted minimum income necessary to live, and should be the minimum rate for all essential workers. The Government, supermarket companies, cleaning contractors and security firms know what essential workers are dealing with, and we know too.

We should show them that we mean it when we say thank you, that we value them not just for the work they do, but for the life they lead.

In a time when many are losing their wages, and their jobs, we can show that another future is possible for Aotearoa. One where we pay people enough money to pay the bills, fill the fridge, contribute to local businesses, and live a life on their own terms, with dignity.

So thank you, to all those in our communities who work in essential services. It’s up to us to now show that we have their back, like they’ve had ours.