Workers are feeling the pinch, with inflation running red hot while wages fail to keep up.
Year on year, inflation is at 4.9 percent according to this week's figures from Stats NZ.
That means some families are being forced to choose between essentials - such as groceries, fuel, power, and clothes.
The Council of Trade Unions' economist Craig Rennie told Māni Dunlop that more than four out of five workers' pay packets are not keeping up with rising costs.
