30 June, 2016

NEWS RELEASE: LIVING WAGE MOVEMENT AOTEAROA NZ

2016 Living Wage employers unveiled today as number surges past 50

The 2016 list of fully accredited New Zealand Living Wage Employers will be released tomorrow, as the number surges to 58.

The full list will be presented at events hosted tomorrow (Friday 1 July) by Auckland’s Trinity Cathedral, and the Transitional Cathedral in Christchurch, both newly accredited Living Wage Employers.

The list also includes a software company with 70 employees; an early childhood education centre; a coffee roasting business and a Rotorua bar.

Radio personality, Gary McCormick will MC the Christchurch event, while international Living Wage advocate Deborah Littman will speak in Auckland.

Organisers promise both events will be a colourful, musical celebration of an important milestone in the New Zealand Living Wage movement.

Annie Newman, the National Convenor of Living Wage Movement Aotearoa NZ said the Living Wage was gaining momentum as employers realised the business benefits of becoming accredited.

"Increasingly New Zealand employers understand that becoming a Living Wage employer is not only the right thing to do, but a sound business decision as well," she said.

"These employers are doing the right thing by their workers, but also reaping the rewards of a stable, happy workforce and the ability to market themselves as an official Living Wage employer."

Meanwhile, in Wellington, from tomorrow the hourly rate of around 20 Wellington City Council cleaners and security guards employed via contractors will rise up to $3 an hour as part of the Council’s staged implementation of the Living Wage.

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