Rainbows End was a key anecdote used as part of their campaign. Gruelling negotiations over a 3 - 5 month period to raise youth rates to be closer or as equal to adult rates lead to a successful win for staff and became a key example for the campaign and the country.
During my time working there i saw the benefits. Being a Cleaner in "New Zealand's Premiere Theme Park" this seemed like a huge step forward, simply because the standard $8.50 pay rate was simply enough for most of us who had parents telling us we had to start paying our own way through life with transport prices going up and commodities with most of us also helping with pay the monthly bills our parent's could not sustain alone.
For most of us it was degrading working longer hours than older staff and getting paid less. New Zealand's award winning Polynesian Band "Nesian Mystik" even threw in their support also and performed at the end of the Protest Rallies. A colleague of mine, Melanie Cawte was invited to speak at the end of the Auckland Protest Rally. She spoke of the "new entrant rate" which entitles 16-17yr olds who has worked atleast 200 hours or a minimum of 3months to be eligible for adult rates and how successful it can be. The New Zealand government considered this and passed it in the youth rates.
