Push for living wage commitment
The Waikato Regional Council has been urged to go into bat for its contracted employees and pay these workers a living wage.
It already paid all of its directly employed staff the living wage currently set at $20.55 an hour, however the Waikato Living Wage Network believes this should be extended to contracted employees, such as bus drivers and cleaners.
A lot of the disruption and stress felt by last year’s striking Hamilton bus drivers could have been avoided if there were living wage conditions within their contracts, First Union spokeswoman Jax Oldham said at Council’s latest meeting.
‘‘We need to build a sustainable network that involves sustainable employment practices.’’
Council of Trade Unions’ Maxine van Oosten urged the council to go back to NZTA on behalf of the bus drivers and ask they fund those workers a living wage.
‘‘We pledge to help you in any way that we can.’’
The group presented a petition to councillors with more than 350 signatures urging them to make it happen.
Council chief executive Vaughan Payne said while they empathised, it was not council’s sole responsibility to address it. He said Council did not have a formal living wage policy.
‘‘It’s just something that we do. In terms of contractors you’ll be aware that we go out to the market and procure the service without a real idea of what staff are paid.’’
Payne said they would therefore be guessing if they had to calculate what the cost would be to pay those staff a living wage.
Cr Russ Rimmington said NZTA had been ‘‘less than helpful’’ when it came to providing that extra funding and asked the group what they were doing to provide that extra funding.
Living Wage Network spokeswoman Kelli Pike replied they were there to ask from the Council a commitment for the living wage. ‘‘And that’s what we fail to see.’’ While the council paid it to their employed staff, she felt it could do more to promote it.
‘‘You don’t make any noise about it whatsoever. That’s not what the movement’s about, it’s about signing up proudly that you are a living wage employer.
‘‘That’s how change happens. You’re doing it, but you’re not telling anybody.’’
She called Payne’s assertion he did not know what those contractors were paid as ridiculous.
‘‘I rang up the cleaning company, I know what they get paid. It’s shocking, it’s just an excuse. You can do this and do it proudly and we will walk alongside you.’’
Van Oosten said they could put provisions when the Council put out tenders for contracted jobs to ensure the contractors were paid the living wage.
‘‘Just because you don’t know what they are getting paid, it doesn’t mean you cannot care because the consequences for these people are that they live in poverty.’’
Council chairman Alan Livingston said while there was empathy for the issue, councillors as representatives had a responsibility to balance that with the rates burden on people living in the region.
‘‘We need to build a sustainable network that involves sustainable employment practices.’’