No date for ending youth pay rates

WELLINGTON: Labour’s preelection policy of ditching youth rates within its first year in power appears to be on hold as it negotiates with its coalition partner New Zealand First.

But that is news to the Green Party, which wants the lower rates gone.

Youth rates — known as the startingout wage — are set at 80% of the minimum wage and are $13.20 an hour.

They apply to 16 and 17yearolds who have been with their employer for less than six months or 18 and 19yearolds who have been on a benefit for more than six months.

Labour campaigned on abolishing the lower wages, which were reintroduced in 2013 after being abolished in 2008, but Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is less committal about that now.

‘‘Everything that we do as a Government is negotiated. Everything that we’ve set down from our coalition agreements, our confidence and supply agreements and the speech from the throne — anything beyond that any individual party policy is negotiated collectively.

‘‘We already have in place a system a shortened system where someone has a lower rate and that phases out over time and everyone is on minimum wage.’’

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said preelection policies were irrelevant as there was now a coalition agreement.

When asked by RNZ, Green Party coleader Marama Davidson was under the impression that youth rates were going.

‘‘We’re glad to see that they [are] being phased out.

‘‘That’s all we know so far that they will be phased out, but certainly the Greens are very clear we’ve always thought that youth rates are an abuse of workers.’’

A spokesman for Minister for Workplace Relations Iain Lees-Galloway said he would be taking a paper to Cabinet by the end of October with any changes to youth rates after talks with Government partners. — RNZ