Government lifts minimum wage to $13.50 an hour
The government has consistently resisted calls to hike the minimum wage up to $15 an hour, saying it would lead to around 6,000 job losses.
The minimum wage will increase by 50c to $13.50 an hour from the start of April.
Labour Minister Kate Wilkinson said the ‘increase strikes the right balance between protecting low paid workers and ensuring that jobs are not lost during these tough economic times.”
Training and new entrants’ minimum wages rose 40c to $10.80 an hour.
The government has consistently resisted calls to hike the minimum wage up to $15 an hour, saying it would lead to around 6,000 job losses.
Today’s hike comes a day after government figures showed average hourly earnings rose 2.8% to $26.59 and hour in the 2011 calendar year. This was made up of a 2.8% rise in private sector wages to $24.58 and a 3.2% increase in public servant pay to $33.86 and hour.
There are however those who believe the price increases are not enough.
The Council of Trade Unions (CTU) secretary Peter Conway said that while he welcomes an increase, it falls well short of the $15 an hour minimum wage that has widespread public support, and increasing the minimum wage by a mere .50c will not significantly address growing concerns of poverty and inequality.
“This minimal increase to the minimum wage will not help low income households who were hit hard by the increase in GST, and not compensated adequately by tax cuts that favoured those on higher incomes,” says Mr Conway.
“The government has missed a chance to help rebalance this equation and put more money in the pockets of low income families.”
Robert McCambridge
Wed, 08 Feb 2012
Wed, 08 Feb 2012
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Government lifts minimum wage to $13.50 an hour
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