Yesterday, the government’s promised 35c increase to the minimum wage rate was officially put in place and the news was met with protests across the country.
Dunedin fast-food workers and union representatives protested by taking part in a car rally from John Wilson Ocean Dr, past several fast-food outlets in South Dunedin, before completing a lap of the Octagon and ending outside the University of Otago clocktower building.
Unite organiser Andrew Tait said the "35c rise is a joke, a bad joke".
"We think that the work that [the hospitality sector] do is important, we think that the profitability of the sector is high enough, and that there's no reason why they shouldn't get a living wage."
"We are a movement in the hospitality sector that is aiming to win living wage for workers in hospitality."
A Dunedin fast-food worker said those people calling the shots "obviously don't have to struggle" and did not know the difficulties of keeping afloat while on minimum wage.
In the fast-food and hospitality fields, people were "living paycheque to paycheque".
"Sometimes you have to go without because you can't afford to maybe have a dinner with your friends because you've used all your money to go towards paying your bills — so you have a roof over your head."
