Pay equity – what’s taking so long?
A ground-breaking tripartite recommendation establishing the principles of pay equity in New Zealand should be accepted by the Government any day now.
Thanks to the tenacity of the former Service and Food Workers Union – now part of E Tu – and delightful determination of rest home carer Kristine Bartlett, the principles have been developed at the direction of the Employment Court.
Employers, union and Government representatives have worked over 6 months to agree on the comprehensive principles which will guide collective bargaining and set-up a process for claims to be lodged through the court where negotiations fail to achieve equal pay.
The working party was chaired by “Governer General-elect” Dame Patsy Reddy.
The resulting document bears a striking resemblance to the concepts established in the Pay Equity Act which Labour passed in 1990 – only to have it repealed in 1991 by an incoming National Government.
How bitter-sweet it would be to have the current Government correct that act against the women of Aotearoa-New Zealand.
The Government has been considering the document for a few months now and it is hard to understand what the hold-up is, given the parties spent a solid 6 months agreeing how to resolve the problem of people in female-dominated occupations being paid less than what the work would worth if it was done by a male-dominated workforce.
The Government must implement the document as delivered – anything less would amount to political interference against the interests of women and their families.
If some women feel they are not earning enough money, they is nothing NOTHING stopping them getting another job in a different industry where the pay is higher.
If some women feel they are not earning enough money, they is nothing NOTHING stopping them getting another job in a different industry where the pay is higher.
Onetrack must be a sexist dumb-dumb, anti worker idiot who believes that there is no unemployment in NZ, imagine if all the female nurses left and went off to become lets say mechanics or such like who the hell would look after our sick and elderly.
Unequal pay is not a sin…its a bloody crime, Onetrack needs to get a life and grow up.
This completely misses the point of the equal pay/pay equity case.
You must be kidding!? Are you trying to say that because there are other jobs out there that pay a proper wage, that women (and men doing the same job) should not be payed the true value of the work they are doing? Let me ask you this… If it was your mother, or child that was needing care from these people, how would you expect them to be paid? And knowing they were giving up their time and effort for less than a living wage?
The whole point of this exercise is that it’s unlawful to pay according to gender and that employers have been skidding along unnoticed since the 70’s. Since this case involves a health service it means govt will have to up their funding. This could drag for ages. If it was as simple as changinging jobs we would… oh yeah… Women are paid less no matter where we end up!
Andrew and onetrack. Two cold , heartless and ignorant comments in true right wing style.