The Fight for Living Wage for AUT Cleaners By Rebecca Zhong Recently I was talking to a friend of mine whose mother works as a cleaner at one of Auckland’s largest commercial firms. Despite attaining a masters degree in Taiwan, she’s been scrubbing toilets in Auckland CBD for the last 15 years. Like many immigrants, her knowledge and identity was non-transferable when she moved to New Zealand. But in 2020, scrubbing toilets makes you someone who is deemed ‘essential.’ Essential in that the general public understands that without
your labour, businesses and life would come to a freezing halt. But despite this being general knowledge, cleaners still continue to be severely undervalued and underpaid. In 2017, the Government made a Living Wage promise to cleaners and security guards who work in police stations, courts, Work and Income service centres and other government buildings where New Zealanders work and visit. During COVID-19, Jacinda Ardern received global praise for her empathy and gratitude
towards essential workers. Cleaners were amongst the many that Jacinda offered her personal thanks to. Jacinda recognised that these invaluable workers were instrumental towards keeping New Zealand safe and secure. But at the end of the day, a thanks has very little value unless it is backed up with action and change. Cleaners continue to be the lowest paid individuals in the core public sector. And their pay simply does not reflect their hard work. As of now, the Government has not fulfilled their promise in ensuring cleaners receive living wage.
