Wage shame: Why MIQ cleaners have 'fallen through the cracks' 19 Feb, 2021 12:05 AM 3 minutes to read Minister Chris Hipkins responds to questions regarding wage and incentives for frontline Covid-19 workers. The staff cleaning New Zealand's quarantine hotels fall into a contractual grey area that leaves many earning the minimum wage, despite the risk involved in the work. Unite Union national secretary John Crocker says that these contracts currently do not specify what cleaning staff at hotels ought to be paid. "The government has proudly announced it is paying all contracted cleaners, security and caterers the living wage, but at this stage this does not include hotel staff," Crocker told the Herald.