English breaks his $6000 wages promise
Grant
ROBERTSON
Finance Spokesperson
22 January 2015 MEDIA STATEMENT
English breaks his $6000 wages promise
Just one month into the new year Bill English has already rowed back on his election promise of real wage rises for New Zealanders, says Labour’s Finance spokesperson Grant Robertson.
“During the election campaign National promised Kiwis that the average wage would rise to $62,000 by 2018. That’s a $6600 pay rise.
“But just yesterday Bill English said that low inflation means ‘the dollar value of future wage increases may be smaller than previously expected’.
“That’s not good enough. New Zealanders have done it too tough for too long – nearly half of Kiwi workers didn’t get a pay rise last year and many haven’t for a number of years. The economy is growing and some sectors are making good profits. Low inflation isn’t an excuse to not give pay rises.
“Bill English promised New Zealanders higher wages. He should be encouraging businesses to give their employees a raise, not give them excuses,” says Grant Robertson.
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National’s election finance policy, p1