Sugo

really dont want to cause offence but

Does new zealand pay its workers more fairly. I mean that as a registered nurse i am paid above the average wage, in the UK my nurses wage isnt enough to live on as a single person, unless i work loads more shift.

do some expats have problems here cos they work in jobs such as labourers, electricians, skilled workers, and whilst in the UK these jobs are paid extremely well which is why its so expensive to get work done. Does these workers expect to be paid the same amounts here. Ive never seen a poor builder.

Do you think this is unfair when in the UK nurses go to Uni and work to get a degree, we never stop learning and become practioners with with skills that improve peoples lives and even save lives but we are paid a great deal less than the nice guy who is skilled but comes around to fix your plugs in the house, or builds your conservatory. (i wish i could afford to live in a conservatory let alone a house in the UK).


I really dont want to cause offence, but think people should realise wages are low here for some occupations and that there is a disparity compaired to the uk

Markk

Hi Sugo,
:scared: Hope you took a hardhat out with you, think you may need it with this one!
For what it's worth I think you've raised a valid point. Maybe the move to NZ would benefit people with particular skills and not others. I wouldn't necessarily label this as fair or unfair, but again illustrates the point that a lot of research needs to be done on an individual basis before a decision is made on whether to move out there or not.
Cheers ,
Mark

Sega Mad

I reckon that you could have a point there!! I have noted that many skilled workers go to NZ and they suffer massive cuts in salaries. I can't help but notice the numbers of people from the trades who have been driven away from NZ with their hopes utterly dashed by the low wages. In the UK the careers which require a big commitment and are vital to society (nurses, teachers, doctors, firemen, paramedics) need to work under extreme stress, have little or no respect or social standing and are horribly underpaid. I am not saying that NZ pays them well but it would appear that in comparison with other professions they do command a higher standing as deserved. I don't live in NZ and I am only expressing the impression that I have. I do know that when I lived in Oz where my Mum was a nurse, she earned a good professional salary which was significantly better than what she got in the UK. I am horrified at how poor the wages for nurses are in UK. Its interesting that the firemen (who are prepared to lay their lives down for us) lost their battle to earn £30k pa when the tube drivers are paid well in excess of this and went on strike for more - and got it!!

Ali

Debs70

Fab post as always Ali, I agree, maybe it's a low paid-low paid situation sometimes? I just worry about the prison officers!!! their salary is horrendous for their job.

Sega Mad

Yep!

With prison officer wages as low as they are in NZ maybe the embittered prison officers take it out on the prisoners which, in turn, makes prison a particularly nasty experience for the inmates and thus acts as a deterrent which manifests itself with a low crime rate.
Maybe the authorities just don't want to admit they have to have so many prison officers (bad PR), so they only declare a small budget to make it look good. I am horrified at how low the prison officers wages are. I am surprised that anyone could even contemplate emigrating on such low renumeration.

Ali

sky

Just because you are skilled with your hands and not your head doesn't make you any lesser of a person or have to accept a lower wage. I wish the trades would go on strike ... every last single one of them and then the nations would be well and truly *****ed.

Debs70

Yeah, but the scenery is nice, the beaches are on your doorstep?! why are you moaning? ha ha ha ha
(just joking Sky.. I know all about the scenery and the poor wages)

Sugo

Sky use your chisel to knock the chips of your shoulders.

Am I saying that trades people are any less of a person? Do Trades people spend 4 yrs at Uni, have to pay back student debt, work their (tiny malnourished) butts off lol, and then get punched, spat at, sworn at wipe bottoms, deal with child deaths, hold the hands of the dying, work in a constantly stressful environment where you often don’t get breaks, and you end up with a rugby ball sized bladder cos every time you try to go to the loo the lady in resus stops breathing.

Im guessing the answer is no

Yes I chose this job and I still love it, there a good times as well as terrible, but my point is shouldn’t we get some kind of acknowledgment for our hard work. In New Zealand I would argue we are still not paid enough but its less of a slap in the face compared to the UK where the guy who sorts out my dodgy electrics or the fella who fixes my ancient car is getting paid more than me and my ilk when in their job if they make a mistake someone wont be able to watch eastenders or start their car, if I make a mistake I could potentially kill someone.

sky

My husband isn't in the trades now anyway Debs lol as you know thank the lord and he just got another pay rise yesterday whoohoo and there's another to come
Trades people are very skilled at what they do and should be paid accordingly but they aren't in NZ and thats why there are lots of cowboy chancers in the building industry.
Used to make me laugh in the UK when folk wanted a wall building or an extension they would always expect my husband to do it for cash and for peanuts when they themselves would never dream of earning their money that way! Usually the so called high earning professionals were the slowest ones to pay as well!

Gill and Rob

I think I understand what you mean, but saying that I'm a nurse too.

Please remember that nurses in New Zealand are currently in the process of receiving up to 20% pay rises, you have arrived well into that process, with only one further increment due to be paid. Now tell yourself why would nurses NEED a 20% pay rise? Because they were so badly paid in the first place. Having had this hefty increase it'll be several years before another one like this rise will come along.

When I arrived here in 2003, the salary for an experience staff nurse {general trained} on the top grade was $39,000. It has only been through fierce union negotiations in 2004 and the creation of Multi Employer Collective Agreements {MECA's}, that the pay award was won. That same rate will increases to $54,000 in July 2006

Now would you call $39,000 plus a paltry 3% per year a fair salary considering the work that is done by nurses? Beacuse that is roughly what you would have been earning if the union had not been so procative. Nurses did strike to get that increase too.

These pay increases for nurses only JUST take them over the current equivalent salaries for both the police and teachers, WHO have not yet had their increased salaries for the next 18 months - 2 years.

The next challenge for the nurses union will be in sorting pensions for nurses AND seeking pay parity for those nurses who do not work for a DHB, remember that these pay awards ONLY apply to those nurses who work for a District Health Board {DHB}, not practice nurses, those working in nursing homes and any nurse working in any Non Government Organisation.

Gill

Boopy

Hi Gill,
Is the nurses pay increase dependant on what union you are in. Has the other union had their pay award? Some seem to be on $44,000 and some on $54,000 now.
Boopy

Gill and Rob

It all depends, some will be on $54,000 now because they are on the current top RN grade of $50,000 and will have completed PDRP level 4 which gives you another $4000. The psychiatric nurses are in the PSA and have a different wage scale, depending on whether they are community or inpatient.

Some on $44,000 may have only been qualified for 2 years

Yes I know all VERY confusing.
Cheers
Gill

bookemjano

I totally agree that salaries are not commensurate with responsibility, but it's that way the world over, not just NZ. For example, Steve as a social housing officer in UK earned £23,000 - he too was abused in his job and had to deal with the most horrific situations. Over here he'd get about $39,000 for the same job. He's took a job in real estate, and has been told he needs to earn (and should have no problem doing so) $60,000 after commission as a minimum, and can expect to earn circa $80K. Taking into account he'll be self employed as well, so therefore gets tax relief on the car, mobile, etc, and it's not a bad package, with similar hours to nurses having to work a lot of overtime to get that salary. He did do the university bit, but could probably have had both jobs without the qualification he's got. It's not right, definitely. Nurses, doctors, firemen, police, and everyone who works at that level of responsibility should definitely have a higher minimum salary, increasing with length of service, and the fact that they have to fight for a decent salary is disgusting.

The OP isn't saying that people working in the trades merit less - but that people working in the services should get more.

Buzzy--Bee

My MIL is a paramedic in New Zealand and she doesn't get paid at all. Not a bean. She is a volunteer, as are all but 2 of the ambulance officers in her station. Firefighters in her area are also all volunteers who don't get paid. So before people start comparing how much essential workers in the UK get paid compared to NZ, this factor should definitely be taken into consideration.

Cheers

Buzzy

deedee

I think many people just don't realise that wages can not just go up for the huge numbers of people considered underpaid.If wages were to suddenly go up 30% across the board everything else would rise in cost at a similar rate.
The problem is not that NZ is underpaid as a nation but the UK as nation is over paid.
The fact remains that wage rates for the woking class have exceeded the cost of living considerably in the UK.If all the working class were to see huge increases, it wouldn't be an increase, just a currency value change.Its only in the last generation that we've seen "average,or low skill" jobs demanding large wages in proportion,like for like to what they were 25 years ago.
The whole system is out of balance, but as with supply and demand, those in need will demand a premium.The lengths people will go at this premium is another thing....in NZ , not very far at all, in the UK, they go a long way, charge the customer even more, the customer has to earn even more and the cycle continues.This is one of the main reasons debt has spiraled at the rate it has in the UK in the last 10 years.When common sense finally reaches UK shores, maybe next year, maybe 10 years from now,when debt reaches a ceiling, it will make NZ look pretty good as a cost of living comparrison.Short term, it may seem hard in NZ compared to the unsustainable wages in the UK, long term, if wages don't rise here, it will be far better.