Council of Trade Unions backs Greens' plan to scrap training wage

The Council of Trade Unions says it supports a Green Party policy to scrap the training wage and remove the lower minimum rate for people in training.

Council president Sandra Grey said she backed the proposal, but said removing the lower rate on its own did not go far enough for apprentices and trainees.

New Zealand's training and starting minimum wage is currently set at $19.16 an hour, while the adult minimum wage is set at $23.95 an hour, according to RNZ.

The lower rate gives employers a legal minimum below the adult rate for people who qualify for training or starting-out pay. Scrapping it would leave the adult rate as the minimum that must be paid.

Grey said more investment is needed to build up apprenticeships and to help people through their training. She said pay alone would not fix the pressures facing new learners.

She called for ongoing support, mentoring and guidance for apprentices and trainees as they learn on the job. She described that practical help as sitting alongside changes to the pay rate.

She said there has been no growth in apprenticeships. She said the number of people taking up apprenticeships is at a record low.

In its own policy material, the council has proposed amending the Minimum Wage Act, the law that sets the legal pay floor. It proposes that all apprentices, interns and those training on the job be paid at least the minimum wage New Zealand Council of Trade Unions.

That change would write the minimum-pay requirement for people in training directly into law, rather than leaving a lower training rate in place.