Living wage

Have the Unions and Labour Party broken the Party Donation laws?  –Observation by the Owl

Current Labour Campaigns (from NZ Labour website)

1. Stop the great NZ Sell OFF
2. Labour champions Living Wage (Press Release 14/2/2013)
3. Manufacturing Enquiry

Current CTU and Union campaigns (from NZCTU website)

1. Keep our Assets
2. Living Wage
3. Manufacturing Crisis

Here is the rule regarding Party Donations (From Electoral Commission website)  Read more »

Hard not to argue with the logic of Adam Carolla when he mocked Obama’s proposals for an increased minimum wage:

The podcast king blasted the president’s rhetoric on the issue, reminding listeners most minimum wage jobs are meant for employees getting their first taste of economic realities.

Minimum-wage jobs are the ones you’re supposed to have in high school and you’re supposed to pass through them. The idea is — I worked at McDonald’s when I was 16. The whole idea isn’t let’s make Adam Carolla comfortable working at McDonald’s. I was like, ‘I’m getting $2.43 a hour. This place sucks ass. I want out of here as fast as I can possibly do it.’

He also argued people working minimum wage jobs should think twice before starting a family, a subject no politician would ever explore.

And you certainly aren’t supposed to have two fucking kids when you’re making Minimum Wage. It’s not responsible; it’s not responsible to the kids you’re trying to raise; and it’s not responsible to the community they live in because you’re not — you’re not paying your fair share.

He goes even further:

But according to Carolla, the author of “Not Taco Bell Material,” earning a minimum wage with two kids is a sign of bar parenting.

“And jumping down to minimum wage by the way, speaking of that — and this is another part of good parenting — the best parenting of all is not shitting out the kids when you can’t afford the kids,” Carolla said. “Again, all these speeches that all these politicians make, right and left — they discuss the problem. Basically, what they’re discussing is how to take a ship that’s capsized and drain it and get it back up. But they never discuss what capsizes the ship, which is the only fucking discussion they should be having — is ballast-oriented: How did it get capsized? Not how do we un-capsize it.”

Matt McCarten whines about the “living wage”:

When I entered the workforce in 1980, a Kiwi worker was paid the same as an Australian for a similar job. Now our average wage is 20 per cent less in real terms. Interestingly, our minimum wage of $13.50 is 30 per cent less. Australia’s minimum, in our money, is $20.35. Even adjusting for their living costs, it’s $16.28 – $110 more a week for a full-time worker.  Read more »

Stuff was jumping on the bandwagon today with the “living wage” issue currently being pumped by the Herald and assorted unions and leftwing causes.

They decided to run one of their online surveys. This was the result a short time ago:

Read more »

Surely he jests (Paid Content at NBR):

An Auckland immigration consultant expects to see more working holiday schemes after the government signed a deal with the Philippines today.

Philippines president Benigno Aquino was in New Zealand with a number of senior colleagues and a business delegation of 70 people.

Prime Minister John Key and Mr Aquino met to discuss the growing relationship between the two countries and later witnessed the signing of the new agreement.

Under the scheme, 100 Philippines’ residents between the ages of 18 and 30 will be granted temporary visas for a year-long stay in New Zealand.

They will be able to take up work but cannot stay with the same employer for more than three months.

Likewise, 100 New Zealanders will be able to travel to the Philippines every year under the same conditions.

I can understand 100 Philippines’ residents wanting to come here. Just look at the income figures from there.

Median Hourly Rate by Job – Country: Philippines (Philippines)

The current exchange rate between the Philippines Peso and the New Zealand Dollar  shows that 1PHP=0.0297.

So the median hourly rate for a nurse in the Philippines is $5.94 and for a highly paid IT Consultant (like Lynn Prentice) they would get $15 per hour. Sheesh even bludgers in New Zealand get more as a base benefit for sitting on their arses.

Our minimum wage laws require people to be paid $13.50 per hour and Labour and the Greens want that increased to $15 per hour which they describe as a “living wage”. Clearly the teeming millions in the Philippines find that a living wage is so much less than what our fat cat politicians believe to be the case.

I’ll lay money on the table right now that there will be one way traffic in this exchange system with the Philippines. They will be coming here but not a single Kiwi will take up the challenge of working for those wage rates in the Philippines.

Personally I’d like to see far more Philippines residents coming here to work, but I wish our politicians would be honest about it.

Instead of a silly limit of 100 people, let’s let in thousands, even at our minimum wage they are earning many time more than they are capable of earning in the Philippines. It is a win, win for the country. We get hordes of willing and capable workers at a better price than our own workforce…and the workers from the Philippines get to earn many thousands more working here than they could ever dream of in the Philippines.

Of course the unions will complain…and the left wing politicians…but then they have just proved to us all that you can easily live on $2.25 per day. Even at Philippine wage rates that is double for just one hours work, should be plenty enough.

Bear in mind also that the Philippines has the highest pay rates in Asia…something that is causing consternation amongst their employers who are struggling to compete with Vietnam, Cambodia and China.

Perhaps DPF could negotiate a better scheme while he is sunning himself in Vietnam and Cambodia?

ᔥ Stuff.co.nz

 A campaign by the Service and Food Workers Union and supported by more than 50 organisations calling for all New Zealanders to be paid a ”living wage” will be launched ahead of this week’s Budget.

The union is concerned there will be little in Thursday’s Budget for low-income New Zealanders.

A living wage is defined as an income which allows workers and their families to not only survive but participate in society.

The launch in Auckland’s St Stephen’s church in Ponsonby on Wednesday follows similar campaigns overseas in the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada.

A coalition of organisations involved in the campaign have begun calculating how much a living wage would be in New Zealand using an independent economist.

But a figure is not expected to be announced at the launch.

So a bunch of union whingers are going to campaign for something they haven’t even worked out yet?

How about a bunch of employers launch a counter-campaign, called the “Productive and employable people” campaign, seeking staff who:

• Look for opportunities to improve their own employment situation, by up-skilling and moving up the employment ladder now and then rather than complain about being on minimum wage year after year.
• Reflect on why they are still only earning minimum wage at, say age 40+ or after 10+ years in the employment market.  If you’re earning minimum wage at age 40+ and you’re not a very recent immigrant, had significant health issues or just had piss-poor bad luck in life, then most of the problem is looking at you in the mirror.
• Put pressure on unions to earn their fees by assisting them to identify areas for improvement in their employability and help to bridge those gaps rather than spending their union fees on propping up the corrupt, inept and nasty Labour Party.
• Don’t turn up to work late, stoned, drunk, overweight, generally useless and with an attitude to match.
• Understand (or are prepared to learn) that employers set wages based on the value they perceive you add, and their ability to substitute you for another lemming.  Want a wage rise?  Then add value.  Employers can only raise their prices if they are confident their customers will agree that the value in the product or service remains after the price increase.  Employees need to reflect on the same.

This may perhaps a little harsh for a handful of people out there, but accurate for most of the vocal protestors.