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School caretakers, cleaners and canteen workers have ratified a new collective employment agreement that will give the lowest paid workers a 22 per cent pay increase.
The pay deal gives all directly employed members in schools a minimum pay rate of $14.62 an hour, the same rate that is paid to Service and Food Workers Union (SFWU) members in public hospitals.
The collective agreement covers over 6000 employees nationwide and is their largest one-off pay increase in the last 20 years.
The deal follows a big campaign by the union, which included members sending postcards, collecting signatures on a petition and holding meetings with MPs.
The union is still negotiating for the same increase to be given to school staff who are employed by contractors.
SFWU national secretary John Ryall said that since 1999 the minimum wage had increased by $5 an hour, and the union was keen to see it move to $15 an hour next year.
- NZPA
