Poverty is No Joke

On April 1 Unite Union members and their supporters came together around the motu to

demand a Living Wage.

Rallies and meetings were held in Auckland, Palmerston North, Wellington, Dunedin and

Christchurch and brought together a diverse group of Hospitality workers, community

groups and supporters who kicked off Unite’s campaign for Fast Food workers to be paid

wages they can live on. All agreed that if the government wasn’t prepared to make this

happen through the minimum wage increase then it would need to be achieved through

union members winning it through Collective Bargaining.

The current coalition government raised the Minimum Wage by 35 cents on April 1, bringing

the current Minimum Wage to $23.50. This is the smallest minimum wage increase in over a

decade. The Living Wage is the amount that workers need to earn to reach a basic and

healthy standard of living, it currently sits at $27.80. The Living Wage is not supported by

the current government but is paid on a voluntary basis by a number of mostly small

businesses and not-for-profits.

With the cost of living rising rapidly this 1.5% increase effectively means workers are going

backwards. You and your co-workers hard-earned money is going to buy you less at the

supermarket checkout than it did this time last year.

At the Christchurch event, Burger King worker Christina Jayet told a story all Fast Food

workers will be familiar with.

“We can’t save anything with everything going up. Your groceries are going up, your taxes are going up, the gas is going up, but your wages aren’t.”

If you’re a Fast Food worker and you are tired of barely getting by, you and your co-workers

need to be a part of this campaign. Unite Union has a long track record of wins for workers

and we know that when we fight together we win. Take charge of your life, don’t get left

behind, work with us to get ahead.