Rotorua retail workers to sign Worth It banner at stop work meeting

Dennis Maga, First Union general secretary. Photo/file

A First Union stop work meeting will be held in Rotorua tomorrow where retail workers will sign a banner in support of the union's Worth It campaign.

The campaign calls on employers in the retail industry to pay workers a living wage of $20.55 an hour, give workers enough hours to live on, and ensure that, as the minimum wage increases, so too do existing pay rates relative to this.

The Rotorua meeting is one of 58 nationwide and will be held at the Energy Events Centre from 11am. 150 workers attended last year's meeting.

First Union has 12,500 members across the country working in the retail industry.

The stop work meetings begin in Tauranga and Whakatāne today.

The union's general secretary Dennis Maga said the campaign was a "big demonstration to illustrate how much our workers want to live happy and healthy lives".

"Masses of people are struggling, retail makes up almost 20 per cent of New Zealand's workforce. If we can make this sector fair, it will go a long way to bettering the lives of hundreds of thousands of families."

He encouraged the Government's Fair Pay Agreements workgroup to consider what an FPA would look like in the retail sector.

The meetings end on September 20 when the signed banner will be completed.