Labour pledge to raise wages, Greens promise more leave

Labour and the the Greens have made announcements on their policies for workers' rights today, with Labour promising higher wages and the Greens vowing to to extend annual leave.

Chris Hipkins for Labour and Marama Davidson for the Green Party both spoke this afternoon at the E Tū Election Launch in Auckland.

Labour, if elected, has promised to get more education and health workers up to the living wage, further raise the minimum wage, and scrap training and starting out wages.

"We're investing in our frontline services and people, not cutting them," Labour party leader Hipkins said.

"Labour will also ensure the minimum wage is raised every year, closing the gap between the minimum and living wages."

The minimum wage in 2017 when Labour came to power was $15.75 an hour, while the living wage was $20.20.

Those figures are now $22.70 and $26.00 an hour.

On training and starting out wages, Hipkins said it's unfair to pay young people less for the same work, adding that "only a small number of young people are employed using these lower wages and removing them will help to restore equity in our minimum wage system".

"We have a proven track record of delivering for Kiwi workers, including increased sick leave, reintroduced meal breaks and increased paid parental leave," the party's spokesperson for workplace relations and safety Carmel Sepuloni said.

"Labour has always been the party that protects and boosts workers' rights."

The Green Party has focused on increasing annual leave entitlement as their own commitment to bolster workers' rights.

"For decades, the Green Party has fought to improve the lives of working people," party co-leader Marama Davidson said, citing their help in passing Fair Pay Agreements and increasing sick leave to 10 days.

According to their policy, announced today, annual leave would increase from four to five weeks by the end of 2025.

They believe this would give organisations and businesses "plenty of notice" to adapt to the change.

"The time is now to build on the work we've already done and make sure that everyone, no matter what job they do, has enough time off. It should not be that only the lucky few in well paying jobs get to take proper time off," Davidson said.

Hipkins, though, was less convinced by the idea.

"I just don't think that now's the right time to impose that additional burden particularly on employers," he said.

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