KEY POINTS:
Labour has upset its core union constituency by altering a Sue Bradford bill that would have abolished the youth minimum wage on the grounds that it was discriminatory.
The bill has been reworked in a select committee to instead propose a "new entrants" minimum pay rate for people aged 16 and 17 that would apply for the first 200 hours of the employment.
The pay rate would be set at a minimum of 80 per cent of the adult minimum wage.
The amendment appears to have been backed in the select committee by Labour and New Zealand First, but it is opposed by Ms Bradford's own party, the Greens, as well as the Maori Party and National.
It has also raised the hackles of union leaders, who are disappointed that Ms Bradford's attempt to remove youth rates does not look as though it will succeed.
Council of Trade Unions secretary Carol Beaumont said that while Parliament was trying to address the issue, the proposal in the bill "has problems".
"A part-time worker on 10 hours a week would take nearly half a year to qualify for the regular minimum wage when, using the 200-hour proposal's logic, they would already be well up to speed on the work by then," Ms Beaumont said.
She said the CTU would work with MPs as the bill went through its committee stages in the House to improve it, and would continue to campaign to get rid of youth rates through collective bargaining.
National Distribution Union national secretary Laila Harre said the select committee's recommendations left the age discrimination provisions of youth rates intact.
"At worst the bill would allow a government to lower the existing youth rate from the current relativity of 80 per cent of the adult wage, and at best simply reduce the time for young people to qualify for minimum levels of equal pay for equal work."
The Greens' opposition to the amendment is clear in the select committee's report.
A statement spelling out the view of Ms Bradford's party argues that the revised version introduces a new form of discrimination in the form of the 200-hour "new entrants" wage.
The Greens said the move would add to the compliance burden for employers.
