David Cameron, Conservative British PM – that’s who.

The Living Wage concept has caught on in the UK and the US and it was great to hear David Shearer put Labour’s name to it yesterday.

Everyone wants to know who, how, how much and when. But the Living Wage concept isn’t just about having a policy on paper. It’s about a movement, where communities organise to persuade the people, politicians, the council and business that paying a living wage is the right thing to do.

A Living Wage is the level of income necessary to provide acceptable standard of living for a person and their family.

It’s different to the legal minimum wage, which provides a floor below which wages must not fall, but the minimum wage is not tied to a recognised standard of living. It’s a politically decided standard, that rises or falls depending on who is in government.  Labour remains committed to lifting the minimum wage (at this stage to $15 an hour), but we can do better.

We need to get to a point where there is agreement about what is fair and what families should be expected to live on.

In the UK, London Citizens have been organising for ten years, bringing together community groups, faith based organisations, businesses, trade unions and politicians. In 2011, Citizens UK, (the nationwide equivalent of London Citizens) launched the Living Wage Foundation to respond to a growing interest in other cities.

The Living Wage  was an election issue in the 2004 London Council elections, and London Mayor, “Red” Ken Livingstone established a dedictaed Living Wage Unit within the Greater London Authority in 2004. Boris Johnson, the conservative Mayor who followed him has continued the Unit and now all of London’s councils pay all workers, including directly employed, contracted or temporary workers at least the London Living Wage or above.

This year’s London Olympics will be the first Living Wage Olympics in history. Imagine that.

Governments can lead by applying a Living Wage to everyone who works for the State Sector. Councils can do the same on the basis that wherever public money is used to purchase goods or services, low wages should not be the competitive factor. In the US Living Wage Ordinances apply this principal.

The current London Living Wage of £8.30 an hour would roughly equate to roughly NZ$16-17 an hour. This took into account the prices of staple items in the family shopping basket, along with relativities with the median income, to estimate a ‘poverty threshold wage’, and then added a 15% margin on top to give some protection against unforeseen events.

Of course such an example can only broadly indicative – but it demonstrates just why a Living Wage, not just a Minimum Wage is needed.

I’m confident that a Living Wage movement will develop in New Zealand and the hows, the whats, the whos, the how muches, and all the rest of it will gather force before the next election. It will need political support, and Labour’s David Shearer has given it.

I’m not given to quoting conservatives, but as David Cameron said, it’s an idea whose time has come.

Here in New Zealand we have been working harder than almost anyone in the developed world. But it’s not paying off.

We are trying to succeed by squeezing more out of people, by paying lower wages than other countries and working longer hours than them. When people tell me they’re actually working harder for less, I believe them.

Hundreds of thousands of honest individuals get out of bed each day and go to work, and they cannot get ahead. Take the rest home workers who earn eleven cents an hour above the minimum wage doing a really important job – looking after our parents in the years in need.

They’re playing by the rules, doing their bit. And yet how do they raise a family on eleven cents more than the minimum wage?

Take the skilled contractor or the owner of a small business who risks everything to raise the capital they need to buy equipment or a van, take on staff or subbies. I want them to know someone is on their side, and to feel hopeful that our economy is working for them just as hard as they are working.

I want them to know someone is on their side, and to feel hopeful that our economy is working for them just as hard as they are working.

Then he unpicks the productivity vs wage argument :

The average wage in 1989, in today’s dollars, was $21.49. By 2011, it had reached $24.43. But if wages grew as much as productivity for the twenty-two years up to 2011, then the hourly rate would have been $31.85. That’s an extra seven dollars an hour, or $297 a week that the average worker earned but didn’t get paid. How many people would be wanting to go to Australia as they are now in record numbers if we paid that?

And the idea of a Living Wage :

Imagine if we could create a New Zealand where everyone could earn enough to provide a good living for their family. That’s not the case now.

One emerging idea I’m interested in is the Living Wage. It’s the amount a person needs to earn to provide for themselves and a family. It’s started to catch on London since 2004 when the London mayor set up a unit that works out the Living Wage level each year. Over time, as finances allowed, Council gradually began to pay the Living Wage level. Now some businesses that contract with the Council have agreed to pay it too, whether they hire direct employees, contractors, or temporary staff.

And on the National government’s approach to our future :

We can’t cut our way to prosperity. Zero budgets are what you get when you fail. How many people would be wanting to go to Australia as they are now in record numbers if we paid that.  Surely lifting everyone up must be the point of economic growth, or why do we bother?”

And a message to New Zealand working people :

The message I want to give the thousands of New Zealanders who go to work every day, look after their kids and do the right thing, is this:

Labour will deliver for you. Under Labour you will be our priority. We want the country to work for you.

David Clark, the member for Dunedin North was first up

Can’t disagree with that.

My public disagreement with some of the logic has to wait twenty years, the retirement of colleagues and/or WWIII.

Chris Hipkins and Darien Fenton are the Senior and Junior Whip and Clare Curran is the Caucus Secretary and rep to NZ Council.

I might do a more considered post at some stage about the process but that requires more thought.

I want to bring about positive change in Labour.  Change to the way we look, change to how we work, and change in who we have been talking to and why. Our programme is one of significant modernisation and rejuvenation, which will be driven by our entire caucus. I have the skills, the vision, the plan and the Deputy to achieve this with you.

Here are the principles that would guide my leadership. First, our mission is to serve New Zealanders, not ourselves. Second, Labour must be true to its core values as a social democratic party. Third, we must rebuild a modern Labour Party together. Finally, we must create a winning team with integrity and purpose.

In order to achieve this we must earn the confidence of New Zealanders. We must reach out to communities we have lost touch with. The loss of votes in 2011 to other parties shows we need to rebuild our relationship with working Kiwi families, including middle income earners and small businesses. We must be clear that women, Maori, Pasifika and those most disadvantaged in New Zealand should also feel that Labour is their political home. Labour is the party that will work hardest in their interests. Right now these people don’t think it is, and many did not turn out to vote.

If elected as Leader, my first priority will be to reunite the caucus and to build a winning team. We will do this by taking a principled approach to our mission, empowering every member of the Caucus to give their best, allowing their talents to shine, and supporting them with modern, professional management systems and effective resources.

I will work in cooperative partnership with the broader Labour Party to modernise party and caucus structures and processes to best support a dynamic team fitted for victory in 2014. Expertise in and around Labour can assist us to build a capable political organisation that is the leading force in New Zealand politics. We must renew and rebuild our organisation from the ground up to ensure a strong presence throughout New Zealand, including in our provinces and rural New Zealand.

I will bring about a new era in Labour, one built on our founding values but also one that is more modern, agile and responsive to the New Zealand of today and tomorrow. I will lead a Labour Party that looks and feels like New Zealand, is true to our core values, that is reunified and rejuvenated and that will win the confidence of New Zealanders in 2014 to serve with purpose, integrity and passion.