Unions are fighting for all workers in MIQ hotels to be given the living wage.
The Government has promised it will make the living wage the minimum for all managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) workers, but it is unclear when that will begin. A spokesperson for the minister of economic development said agencies would have to offer at least the living wage ($22.10 an hour) for contract renewals, affecting hundreds of hotel staff. However, the spokesperson would not say if that meant new contracts, beginning May 1, would include the living wage and referred
Stuff
to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE). The ministry would not commit to a date either, but said it questioned hotels about whether their staff were being paid the living wage.