Auckland (The NZ Today)
Labour has put a major pay equity commitment at the centre of its election campaign, promising an immediate $4-an-hour pay rise for around 65,000 care and support workers if it forms the next government.
The increase would take effect from 1 January 2027 and, according to Labour, would leave an average full-time worker about $160 a week better off before tax, or roughly $8,320 a year.
The party has also confirmed it would restore the previous pay equity framework within its first 100 days in office, allowing earlier work on claims to be carried forward rather than requiring workers to begin the process again from scratch.
Labour has costed the care and support worker component of the policy at about $2.5 billion over four years.
That figure covers the immediate settlement for this group, but does not include the eventual cost of other pay equity claims that could return under the restored system.
Labour says those wider settlements cannot be fully costed in advance because each would still be subject to bargaining and negotiation.
Workplace relations spokesperson Jan Tinetti said care and support workers perform some of the most important jobs in the country and argued their pay should better reflect the responsibility involved.
The announcement gives more detail to a commitment Chris Hipkins made earlier in the campaign, when he promised Labour would reverse the Government’s pay equity law changes within its first 100 days and put care and support workers first in line for a settlement.
The policy was released alongside Labour’s wider fiscal plan, as the party sought to show how its election promises would fit within the Government’s latest books.
Labour says it would keep operating allowances at $2.4 billion, use existing future capital allowances for announced infrastructure commitments and retain more than $10 billion in unallocated operating allowances.
The party’s published fiscal strategy says it wants to return to an OBEGAL surplus by 2029/30 and reduce net debt to around 20 percent of GDP over time.
The pay equity issue has become a major election dividing line.
The Green Party has separately promised to restore pay equity and has estimated its own settlement for the same 65,000 care and support workers at just under $4.5 billion over four years, although that proposal would still be subject to bargaining.
Source: Labour Party announcement; Labour fiscal strategy; additional reporting context from NZ Herald
