CTU wants minimum wage loophole closed

The CTU has reiterated its support for the Minimum Wage and Remuneration Amendment Bill which would ensure contractors doing work such as leaflet delivering were paid at a rate at least equivalent to the minimum wage.

“People should not be allowed to use contracting arrangements to get around statutory minimum rates of pay,” said CTU Secretary Peter Conway. “This kind of sub-contracted work is on the increase, exploiting more and more New Zealanders with contracts where they cannot possibly earn a living wage in the number of hours required to complete the job. That loophole has to be closed.”

The CTU has contributed to the re-drafting of the Bill which now defines particular types of work which would be covered. The Bill, which will be debated in Parliament for the third time tomorrow (25 March), targets some of the most vulnerable workers in society who are being deprived of basic rights by the technicality of their employment status.

“None of the arguments against this bill seem to acknowledge that we have agreed a socially acceptable minimum rate of pay in this country,” continued Conway. “By farming out low-skilled work to individual contractors who have little or no choice about the work available to them certain businesses are knowingly evading the law on minimum wages and it should not be allowed to continue.”