11th June 2009

For Immediate Release

Action Needed On Pay Equity – Not More Research

More research on the pay gender gap will not help the thousands of women working in jobs where pay inequity has already been proven to exist, according to the education sector union NZEI Te Riu Roa.

The government has announced that the Ministry of Women’s Affairs has received an additional $2 million over four years to do more research and policy work on the gender pay gap, and that it is committed to addressing the issue.

This comes after the government shut down the Pay and Employment Equity Unit within the Department of Labour and halted all further work on pay and employment equity investigations. One of those investigations was to look at the work of thousands of frontline, school support staff.

NZEI National Secretary Paul Goulter says it’s a bizarre and frustrating situation.

“We already have stacks of policy and research which clearly shows a gender pay gap exists. More research in other sectors is welcome but the government needs to urgently address the gaps that have already been identified. Where’s the government’s commitment to doing that?

A recently completed pay investigation involving around 800 Ministry of Education support workers who work with special needs children, found they are significantly underpaid when compared to male workers in other sectors who have similar skills levels and responsibilities.

“What these women want is action now to remedy their issues of low pay and to close the gap already identified. The government needs to be funding pay rises not putting money into more research to prove what we’ve been telling them for years,” says Mr Goulter.

NZEI is continuing to gather signatures in support of a petition by Labour MP Sue Moroney calling on the government to reinstate pay equity investigations in the public sector and to honour the results of those already completed.

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