Auckland Council staff could get $57m pay rise, taking wage bill to a whopping $1 billion

In the face of spending cuts on the back of inflation and Covid-19, Auckland Council could be forced to give its staff a 6% pay rise costing ratepayers an extra $57 million, NZ Herald reports. Councillor Greg Sayers said a contractual commitment with unions to tie wage increases to the latest inflation figure and mirrored increases for other staff, would take the council’s wages bill to $1 billion for the first time.