Scrapping of Pay Equity Bill is great news for educators
1 November 2017
Low-paid workers in the education sector will be elated about today’s announcement that the former National Government's
Pay Equity Bill has been scrapped, says NZEI Te Riu Roa President Lynda Stuart.
“That bill was mean-spirited and shortsighted. It would have put more roadblocks in the way of women who were seeking
pay equity and would have made it extremely difficult for more female-dominated sectors to repeat the success of
Kristine Bartlett and her union E tū, who won significant pay rises for aged care workers,” she said.
“We congratulate Labour, New Zealand First and the Greens for moving quickly to scrap this unjust bill, just as they
promised during the election campaign.”
NZEI is currently in negotiations with the Ministry of Education over a pay equity settlement for teacher aides. Claims
for other school support staff will follow.
In June, NZEI also launched a claim for pay equity for early childhood teachers and staff, uniting the private and
public early childhood sector in a historic bid for fair pay. NZEI has a group of potential claimants and is in the
process of putting a case together.
ends