Published: 16 November 2023
With over 370 accredited Living Wage employers across New Zealand, Hutt City Council is one of five New Zealand Councils to gain Living Wage accreditation status.*
The journey began in 2018, when Hutt City Council resolved to pay the Living Wage to all directly employed staff, including casuals. Hutt City Council has been a Living Wage accredited employer for two years strong.
Several suppliers to Hutt City Council have also now committed to paying the Living Wage, including groups like Intergroup who carry out our street cleaning litter control, Waste Management who pick up our residents’ rubbish and recycling, Hewsons who provide our office supplies and Mexteds who maintain our parks and playing fields.
Hutt City Council is also continuing to work with its other contractors to encourage them to pay the Living Wage to those staff who are doing work on our city’s behalf.
“The Living Wage not only provides workers with a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work, but it demonstrates how we value our most important asset – our people,” Mayor Campbell Barry says.
“Hutt City Council’s commitment to the Living Wage is more important than ever. It provides our staff, and those who provide services to Lower Hutt on council’s behalf, with greater financial security and wellbeing.
“The Living Wage flows through to our local economy so it’s good for businesses as well and helps drive up the standard of living for our community,” says Hutt City Council Chief Executive Jo Miller. “As a Living Wage employer, we have seen that paying this rate makes a real difference to a number of our staff, especially those in our pools and Neighbourhood Hubs. I’m proud that we are doing our part to encourage all businesses to do good business creating a level playing field upon which firms bid, avoiding a race to the bottom and encouraging employers to share their profits with their employees by paying a Living Wage.”
Contractor to Hutt City Council, City Cleaning, says “City Cleaning Services supports and encourages the living wage as it financially benefits our staff members directly. It makes a big difference in retention of staff and longevity for them in their role with City Cleaning. Our people are the lifeforce of our company and do a fantastic job everyday across the HCC buildings. It is fantastic that they are receiving the living wage as staff well-being is a priority social outcome for our team.”
It was great to celebrate local living wage employers, who were recently recognised at a function hosted by Hutt City Council and the Hutt Valley Living Wage network – ka pai!
Mayor Campbell Barry, Lillian Pak – TEAM Naenae Trust, Dina Awarau – Hutt Union, James Stuart – Blue Carrot Catering, Mat Stokes – Paysauce Limited, Hannah Drew-Crawshaw – Trade School Industries
*Information from the Living Wage NZ website. For more, visit www.livingwage.org.nz.