A complaint is being lodged with the United Nations over changes to New Zealand's pay equity scheme, which were announced a year ago.
The group, which includes the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions and the Te Kāhui Tika Tangata Human Rights Commission, is asking the UN to investigate whether the changes constituted systemic discrimination against women.
The Government re-wrote the previous law, cancelling existing pay equity claims collectively covering around 180,000 workers. Claims were raised to ensure people received equal pay for work of equal value.
The vast majority of those with claims were women in female-dominated sectors like care, disability, education, health, and community and social services.
On Breakfast this morning, lawyer Dame Judy McGregor said the group was going to the UN because there was “no other avenue left” for those with claims under New Zealand law.
“Many of the women who’ve been denied pay equity in New Zealand have no other domestic recourse,” she said.
“They need international experts to say that the coalition Government has sponsored gender discrimination against its own women.”
She hoped the complaint could “force some change” from the Government.
'It's impossible, basically'
More than 20 events were held across the country under the banner of the "Women's Day of Action for Pay Equity". (Source: 1News)
Also joining Breakfast was early childhood teacher Mel Burgess, who was part of a pay equity claim in her sector.
After re-training later in her career, Burgess was shocked to discover how low the pay was compared with other professions. At the end of university, she learned that someone had done a shorter course and was paid $20,000 more than she was.
Since entering the sector, financial strain had become a normal part of life for Burgess, struggling to pay her student loans and limiting life choices for her and her family.
“When you’re working in a female-dominated sector like mine, early childhood, 98% women, there is a care component in the work that we do, the age group of the tamariki that we teach, all of that seems to be a lessening of our role.
“But what we do is just so important.”
She was blindsided when the law was changed, telling Breakfast the claim would have redressed things in a way she thought “could not be messed with” and was “secure”.
“It just got torn away from us.”
She said that while the claim started nine years ago, it felt like it was getting further away
“It’s impossible, basically.”
She called the Government’s changes to the pay equity scheme “shameful”.
'Women have not received a single cent'
Dame Judy said that a year after the changes were made, “women have not received a single cent more from the pay equity system she introduced”.
“They keep saying it’s sustainable, workable, it’s efficient, well, let’s see the United Nations' verdict on that.”
She said that New Zealand was once a leader in gender equality but had become a “pariah”, and believed women would “vote with their feet” at this year’s election if changes weren’t made.
“It’s gone on for too long, and before I die, surely, New Zealand women will be paid for the work that they do properly.”
'I believe we've made the law simpler' – Minister
In a statement, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden said that despite the law change, “New Zealand continues to have a robust pay equity system in place”.
She believed the law had been made “simpler and more robust” and ensured “sustainability”.
“Protection for pay equity remains, and the new system is now in place with claims already in process under the new system.
“Previously, a low threshold allowed claims to proceed without strong evidence of sex-based undervaluation and meeting that threshold did not guarantee a settlement.”
The Minister explained the new process required claimants to demonstrate their claim’s merit “at the outset, focusing efforts on genuine cases”.
“It also clarifies comparator methodology with a hierarchy that prioritises comparators closest to the employer.
“This ensures the use of the most relevant, similar roles and skills so that any undervaluation is assessed accurately.”
Van Velden said New Zealand took its obligations to human rights “seriously”, and the country’s relationship with the UN and its bodies was “long-standing” and “constructive”.
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