Sparkies shine in pay rise statistics

Before going into battle with the boss for a pay rise, ask a sparkie or a shop worker for some bargaining tips.

In the past year the pay of a skilled shop salesperson went up on average by nearly 15 per cent, an Employers and Manufacturers Association survey shows.

Electricians had a good year, too. Their average wages increased by 11.2 per cent, to $48,694.

Other jobs did not do so well - toolmakers took a 7.2 per cent drop in pay, and diesel mechanics dropped by 5.6 per cent.

Apprentice electrician Tom Wood, 19, said last night it was a good time to be a sparkie. The second-year Glen Eden apprentice has seen his pay packet jump by more than 30 per cent in the past two years.

He said the increases were driven by word of mouth from other electricians and demand.

"There's no shortage of work out there. Through word of mouth and friends in the industry you find out what the different rates are. It's a case of asking why is he getting more money than me."

The national employers' wage and salary survey surveyed more than 500 employers with 107,000 employees and averaged out wages of 211 positions across 19 job sectors.

The association would release results for only 25 of the 211 job positions surveyed to the Herald.

EMA northern chief executive Alasdair Thompson said on average wages and salaries increased by 3.5 per cent in the year to July, slightly less than the 3.83 increase of the year before.

Ordinary workers' pay rates increased by 3.5 per cent, compared with middle and senior management jobs, which went up by 3.1 to 3.2 per cent.

Mr Thompson said successive pay rises showed law changes which gave workers bargaining muscle were not needed.

More than 78 per cent of bosses gave employees increases of at least 3 per cent, ahead of inflation, which showed the labour and skills shortage in New Zealand meant workers were in high demand and could already command good salaries.

Council of Trade Unions economist Peter Conway said many of the increases were the result of significant collective bargaining, such as unskilled warehouse store workers, who went up by 6.53 per cent to a base of $25,683.

Other major rises were in sectors with acute labour shortages such as construction.

Mr Conway said the increases were only just starting to come through, four years after it was predicted that the Employment Relations Act would increase the wage bill.

The success of managers in the survey varied.

Managing directors received an average 6.8 per cent increase to $148,740, but salaries of general managers with 50 to 199 employees dropped by 0.9 per cent, to $122,133.

General managers with fewer than 50 staff dropped by 3.8 per cent to $93,368, and marketing and business development managers got hefty increases of 8.9 per cent, to $89,113 after two years of decreases.

 

- Additional reporting Jon Stokes