Fight to keep the Living Wage.

By Lyndy McIntyre

On 12 March the government announced a proposal to scrap the Living Wage as a procurement requirement for all government contracts in cleaning, security, and catering. This means that thousands of workers across Aotearoa will no longer be guaranteed the Living Wage. Achieving this was a hard-won victory for low-paid workers and the Living Wage Movement and we are fighting back!

Together we can fight this, and you can help by making an individual submission this week.

Submissions to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) are open until 5pm on Tuesday 8 April.

The consultation document is 99 pages long and the official submission form is complicated! But you can submit:

• Using the Living Wage Movement’s form.
• By emailing MBIE. You must include your name, email and address for your submission to count.

You may wish to make any or all of the following points:

• I value our government’s workforce, including traditionally low-paid workers like cleaners, security guards and catering workers.
• I support our government setting an example as a good employer by paying the Living Wage.
• Setting the Living Wage as a minimum for government contracts is providing the leadership we expect from government.
• Government’s contracted workers work hard for us and deserve a wage that enables them to live in dignity and to participate in society.
• It is not correct to state that this will not change the pay of existing workers. This would rapidly freeze the wage rates of these workers until they reach the minimum wage. It will also mean new workers are employed on the minimum wage.
• Low-paid workers spend all their incomes in local economies and lowering their wages even further will affect everyone.
• Setting a Living Wage as a requirement in procurement removes the race-to-the-bottom with contractors competing on wages. It then forces contractors to compete around lower profits, lower overheads and innovation, which is good for everyone.
• Far from creating more jobs and growth, removing the Living Wage would be a backwards step.
• I oppose the proposal to remove the requirement to pay the NZ Living Wage in government procurement.