Living wage rises to $20.20 an hour

30 comments on “Living wage rises to $20.20 an hour ”

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1. saveNZ 1

   21 February 2017 at 9:54 am

   Personally would like the debate to start about UBI…
   • Peter Bradley 1.1

     21 February 2017 at 12:16 pm

     Spot on. Constantly pushing up the living wage as though businesses in the real world are going to be able to keep up is just a game of fantasy.
     There has to be permanent and feasible wealth redistribution built into our economy – it’s not going to happen via wages ever – UBI is the only answer.
     • UncookedSelachimorpha 1.1.1

       21 February 2017 at 5:35 pm

       Wages and UBI can both be part of improving things I feel.

       Equality can be improved via wages – it has been in the past in NZ, and is in Japan and Germany currently, as examples.
     • millsy 1.1.2

       21 February 2017 at 7:19 pm

       Seems to be OK for landlords to be endlessly be pushing up rents.
       • Richard McGrath 1.1.2.1

         23 February 2017 at 4:28 am

         They can only do that because the National Socialist government make it difficult and expensive to build new housing.
   • millsy 1.2

     21 February 2017 at 7:18 pm

     I prefer the good old social wage myself. Free healthcare, education, state housing, access to arts and culture, subsidised utilities, etc.
2. The Fairy Godmother 2

   21 February 2017 at 10:03 am

   Yes the statement about the minimum wage seems odd. I do see where he is coming from though. In early childhood we have a whole lot of minimum standards. One of the problems as a speaker out from Reggio Emillia from REANZ so succinctly put it is that “the minimum standard becomes aspirational”. We don’t strive to be the best we can be we strive to be the worst we can get away with. However I wouldn’t want to get rid of minimum standards for childcare or wages until we turn our whole society around from a focus on profit making to one of being the best we can be for everyone – for our employees and for our children.
   • UncookedSelachimorpha 2.1

     21 February 2017 at 5:41 pm

     I liked Nick Hanauer’s comment on the minimum wage:

     “But here’s the thing. When those who set bad examples, like the owners of Wal-Mart or McDonald’s, pay their workers close to the minimum wage, what they’re really saying is that they’d pay even less if it weren’t illegal. “
3. One Anonymous Bloke 3

   21 February 2017 at 10:42 am

   Mr. Evans has just explained why the minimum wage needs to go up.

   What are the odds that he’s one of those Tories who “gives generously to charity”.

   Perhaps he should be sent on a fact-finding tour of countries with no minimum wage to help him re-connect with reality.
   • mauī 3.1

     21 February 2017 at 11:32 am

     I doubt he’s a tory, hes been working day in day out with people at the bottom of the heap for a long time.

     His is probably an idealistic view that most employers are good and would pay people a good wage without a min. target available. But like you say that doesn’t happen in the real world, not in our present money driven culture.
     • One Anonymous Bloke 3.1.1

       21 February 2017 at 12:10 pm

       It can happen – in countries with strong unions. Perhaps he’s just hopelessly naive.
   • Antoine 3.2

     21 February 2017 at 11:54 am

     You would probably call me a Tory, and I think Evans’ argument is weird too.

     A.
     • One Anonymous Bloke 3.2.1

       21 February 2017 at 12:06 pm

       No offence, but you seem more like a useful idiot to me.
       • Antoine 3.2.1.1

         21 February 2017 at 12:09 pm

         You’re a big sweetie really for all your bluster 🙂

         A.
   • Richard McGrath 3.3

     21 February 2017 at 2:17 pm

     Evans a “Tory”? Shows how much you know:
     https://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2015/05/pimping-the-poor-world-champion-contender/#more-191797
     • One Anonymous Bloke 3.3.1

       21 February 2017 at 2:36 pm

       I have heard rumours that your spiritual leader, Cameron Slater, lashes out at Tories on a regular basis.
       • Richard McGrath 3.3.1.1

         23 February 2017 at 4:31 am

         Spiritual leader? Really? His blog is a must-read, certainly, like The Standard, but he’s a political animal rather than a philosopher – and is religious, whereas I am an atheist.

         But yes, he has been lashing out at Tories – much to my delight!
4. Molly 4

   21 February 2017 at 11:40 am

   The reasoning is flawed. Current market competition will reward those employers or businesses that cut expenses by paying less wages than a living wage (or to put it in more realistic terms – a “non-livable” wage).

   Those businesses and business owners will thrive, on the expectation they can continue to pay those non-livable wages, and the other businesses will struggle to compete.

   The same issue comes to value. Not all employers are able to ascertain value to business in the same way. Some employees are “valuable” primarily because they can be relied upon to do their job (and more) without asking for more pay.

   The ability to ask for the level of pay that reflects your value to a business is not universal, which results in a lot of variance in renumeration sometimes even within the same organisation.

   In essence, the living wage should be the lowest we are prepared to accept that people are paid for full-time employment, and the minimum wage only gets abolished when the living wage replaces that in legislation and policy.
   • greywarshark 4.1

     21 February 2017 at 7:02 pm

     Well said Molly and with light and not all the heat that found its way into my comment.
     (Which I still stand by though.)
5. dialey 5

   21 February 2017 at 4:27 pm

   Oh goodie, my recently negotiated PSA pay rate for administrators is now about the same as the living wage.
   • stigie 5.1

     21 February 2017 at 4:43 pm

     Well, if that’s the case, i want my wages to go up as well.
     And there lies the problem .
6. greywarshark 6

   21 February 2017 at 6:45 pm

   The budgeting advisor either is completely gullible or believes in fairies or both.
   Without a minimum wage employers would pay less. If anyone is truly interested in this business of decent wages he/she should be fully conversant with the whole picture, not making naive, ignorant statements.

   Sure the minimum wage should be higher, but the reason that it is paid is because its law. If employers were really nice people they would try to pay more, they might set reasonable targets per month and give staff bonuses if met. But you don’t take away a legal sure thing in favour of good feelings and fair dealings.

   The point about set wages is that everyone has to pay them and no scumbags can get away for ever not paying them and therefore being able to undercut everybody’s prices with the portion of their poor employees’ wages that they withhold from them. That’s not good for business, and not good for employees so stuff that up your earhole budget advisor, that’s good advice to you.
7. In Vino 7

   21 February 2017 at 6:47 pm

   We need a total change of perspective. The minimum wage is utterly demeaning, and destroys the recipient’s sense of self-worth. I despise anyone who accepts the idea of working long hours for less than $20 an hour – they should know that they as people are worth more than that. And I doubly despise the profit-gouging, greed-ridden Capitalists who preach market forces and economic efficiency to justify their exploitation of these people. (They are people, not a labour commodity, and the Capitalists make me wish for the existence of a vengeful God.)

   The acceptance of huge salaries for top CEOs and sub-living-level wages for the working poor is a pustulant sore on the face of our society which far too many of us are willing to tolerate.
   • Draco T Bastard 7.1

     21 February 2017 at 7:09 pm

     The acceptance of huge salaries for top CEOs and sub-living-level wages for the working poor is a pustulant sore on the face of our society which far too many of us are willing to tolerate.

     QFT
   • Greg 7.2

     22 February 2017 at 12:25 pm

     1000 percent. Vino
8. greg 8

   21 February 2017 at 7:27 pm

   living wage should be extended to all Auckland council contracts Auckland is a high cost city to live in or is staff who are forced work on contracts second class workers to be treated like shit.
   • In Vino 8.1

     21 February 2017 at 7:50 pm

     ‘treated like shit’

     Yep.. I said utterly demeaning – same thing. I hold in contempt those profit-gougers who try to justify low wages.
9. NZJester 9

   22 February 2017 at 9:03 pm

   The theory for dropping the minimum wage looks good until it hits the one big real world problem that makes the theory fall over (Greedy People). The theory of trickle down economics falls over due to the same problem (Greedy people just bank the tax cuts and not reinvest it in job creation). Even with a minimum wage, there are still a small number of businesses owners out there trying to find ways around it to underpay their employees. Making employees buy things that are needed to do their job themselves that should be supplied, supplying accommodation at live-on sites at an inflated rate, unpaid overtime kept off the books, and making employees pay for items stolen during their shifts are just some of the measures some greedy people use to underpay employees.
   • Richard McGrath 9.1

     23 February 2017 at 4:33 am

     The old straw man makes a comeback – you realise ‘trickle-down’ is an invention of Keynesians, don’t you?
10. Dave Jennings 10

    25 February 2017 at 11:29 am

    If the minimum wage was done away with, it may give the unscrupulous employer, ,and there are plenty of them a field day to pay an even lower rate of servitude pay.
    So I think it would be wise to keep the current minimum wage in place ;but it needs to reflect the current cost of living. Which is sky high.
    The National Government would dearly love to help their business mates out, by having a free for all in the wages arena. only greater poverty will ensue.
    Dave Jennings,
    Tokoroa.

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