The Herald is reporting this morning that 61% of respondents to one of its Summer Polls want the minimum wage raised. And not just raised - there are calls, led by the union movement, for an increase to $15.00 per hour!
That is, in our ever-humble opinion, outrageous. A 20% increase to the minimum wage would be a disaster for businesses, especially small to medium businesses on whom our economy depends. Have people already forgotten that we are only just emerging from a recession? Not just a recession either; a time when thousands of New Zealanders lost their jobs, or had their hours of work trimmed back.
We hope that the Government will pay no heed whatsoever to this poll; after all, Herald polls do have a reputation for being "stacked". And the unions must be careful, for this is surely a two-edged sword; employers simply cannot afford to pay this kind of increase, and as surely as night follows day, jobs will be lost and businesses will fail.
And for the record - we reward our staff well, and pay on merit. None of our 25 staff is paid the minimum wage; many earn significantly more. We decide the value of our staff; we don't need trade unions to help us with that.
4 comments:
Mrs pdm managed the Hastings branch of a national retail store - about 20 branches through NZ. When the minimum wage was increased and the holidays act came in staff numbers actually dropped and after school jobs and weekend jobs for students went.
Wipe the minimum wage and get more people in employment - top ups will be less costly than the dole and the tax take will increaes.
I see that the Prime Minister is ruling out such an increase.
The usual suspects are, on the other hand looking for one.
Well said @pdm. Increasing the min wage will have the unintended consequence of drastically reducing employment and opportunities for the most vulnerable it is supposed to protect.
Let's hope that J'Key has ruled out this ridiculous proposal and doesn't u-turn with one of his customary pragmatic compromises.
When one reads further down the Herald story, the names "Matt McCarten" and "Unite" appear - quelle suprise!
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