Suffrage Day Shame

“Today New Zealand celebrates the 110th Anniversary of women having the vote but the celebration is tarnished by the fact that we continue to pay women less then men,” says CTU Vice President, Darien Fenton.

“It is a source of shame that New Zealand led the world by being the first country to give women political equality, but 110 years later we continue to deny them economic equality.”

“Women earn on average $3 an hour less than men. That is wrong.”

“Suffrage Day should be about righting that wrong and ensuring the contribution women make to society is valued at the same level as men.”

“This is clearly not happening as 15% of women are earning $10 or less per hour compared to 9% of men.” “International evidence shows that raising the minimum wage would be an effective way to narrow this gap.”

“Currently the minimum wage is $8.50 an hour. The CTU submitted last that this should be raised to $10 which is around half the average wage.”

“On Suffrage Day we should live up to our proud past by making a commitment to increasing the minimum wage as a step towards giving women the economic equality they have been denied for far too long,” says Darien Fenton.

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