Chadwick Steve: Sleepover Wages (Settlement) Bill — First Reading 
Chadwick Steve: Sleepover Wages (Settlement) Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:676;Page:21482] 
Hon STEVE CHADWICK (Labour) 
: 
 It was interesting to hear the Government take all the praise cynically for bringing the Sleepover Wages (Settlement) Bill before the House just before it rises for this term in Government. It will not get this Government any points at all out there with this sector. It has taken 5 years and numerous court cases which could not be afforded at all and which wasted money that should have gone into the pockets of the workers—and National claims success for this bill. That is outrageous. To hear the Maori Party say this is a brave move by the Government when the Maori Party has stood under the skirts of this National Government which has tried to destroy the workers’ right to receive fair pay for a fair day’s work was simply disgraceful. That has not escaped the attention of the workers in the sector either. Where have the Maori Party members been while this battle has gone on for 5 years? Noticeably absent. 
I congratulate the Service and Food Workers Union the PSA and Phil Dickson who has taken this issue to court and stayed persistently with the case through several iterations before the courts. They are to be congratulated on getting recognition. The issue is not about the dollar value; it is about getting recognition that those employees work during a sleepover when they are looking after the vulnerable and people with disabilities. We have mentioned that at the moment they get $3.77 per hour. Members of the Government can sit there in the House and say how wonderful they are when they have given tax breaks to the wealthiest people in this country and ignored these people at the bottom treating them with absolute disdain. So we are rather cynical about that Government’s support for the workers in the health sector. 
This bill takes the workers up to only $13 per hour. We believe the rate should be $15 per hour and we will bring in a minimum wage of $15 per hour. 
Chester Borrows 
: And how will you pay for it? 
Hon STEVE CHADWICK 
: That is how we will start to leverage up in order to get quality in the sector. How does one pay for it? One does not give tax cuts to the wealthy; that is how one pays for things like this. One redistributes money from those on fairly taxed salaries to those who need it the most. That is not those at the top of the bracket. 
This is a wonderful battle that has been won and it has been won by the workers. It has been won by the workers because they are organised because they are in unions and try as the Government will to destroy the unions the unions will remain there working for the underdogs who work for the vulnerable people in our society. I am proud of them for doing that. This bill is only the right thing to do it is not the brave thing to do. We are proud in Labour to support this bill. It is sensible that we are in urgency for this bill. It certainly was not sensible when we were forced into urgency for the sake of Warner Bros which treated workers in the film and entertainment industry with disdain. Tonight is a victory for those in the disability sector. I am proud to support this bill. 
Bill read a first time.