The Government today heard Select Committee oral submissions on the proposed Fair Pay Agreements Bill.

The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions is strongly supportive of the proposed legislation, and joined with working people from across the motu to outline why the Bill is needed.

“FPAs will vastly improve the quality of life for all working people in Aotearoa New Zealand,” said CTU Economist Craig Renney.

“At their core, Fair Pay Agreements are a mechanism through which minimum terms and conditions can be fixed across an industry. These minimums will provide a better and stronger foundation for all employees and employers, and will push up wages including for some of our most vulnerable workers.”

During the oral submission, Renney said the Government now has the opportunity to reverse generations of low wages and increasing inequality

“For far too many New Zealanders, their experience of work is one of being completely disempowered.

“This legislation will plug a longstanding gap in our wage setting system and bring about an effective and common-sense policy response to some crucial failures that have plagued NZ for too long.”

Renney said the positive impacts of this Bill would extend into the communities of workers.

“All of us deserve to have a sense of agency over our own lives – and FPAs will help build that agency back.

“With this Bill, we have a special opportunity to deliver much better jobs and much better lives for NZ workers."

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