The Equal Employment Opportunities (EEO)
Commissioner and three former EEO Commissioners are calling
for the release of the human rights analysis of the
controversial equal pay
amendments.
Saunoamaali’i Dr Karanina
Sumeo, Dr Jackie Blue and Dame Judy McGregor say they
support the current EEO Commissioner Professor Gail
Pacheco’s concerns that the legislative overhaul will make
claims more difficult. Professor Pacheco is concerned about
the halt in progress on 33 current claims and the lack of
consultation. Earlier in the week, she made a statement that
said:
“The significant savings to the
Government will come from the pockets of women working in
jobs that are undervalued.
“It’s also
concerning that the government is putting a stop to progress
made to current claims that thousands of individuals have
contributed to in good faith. Their hard work deserves to be
respected, not undone.
“Our parliamentary processes
are in place to protect democratic participation rights and
should not be circumvented, especially on an issue like this
which has significant consequences for so many
people.”
The Cabinet paper accompanying the
legislation had blanked out the human rights implications in
a redacted section.
The former EEO
Commissioners say that the public deserves to know the human
rights consequences of the fast-tracked bill which was
passed under urgency this week. “The use of
urgency locked out both women and members of the public to
have input on critical legislation that impacts on their
jobs, their livelihoods, their families and breaches their
rights.”
Advertisement – scroll to continue reading
“Pay equity
obligations are specified in various legally binding United
Nation conventions to which New Zealand is a signatory, such
as the International Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and in
conventions on the rights of disabled people and racial
discrimination. New Zealand has also signed up to
International Labour Organization conventions on pay
equity.
“As a country we regularly boast about being
a human rights leader so we need to see how this could
affect our reputation as well as how it affects women who
deserve pay equity in good faith.
“The New Zealand
Government has repeatedly promised the United Nations
Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
Against Women (CEDAW) that it was making steady progress on
implementing equal pay and pay
equity.”
“In its last report to CEDAW the
Government boasted about the effectiveness of the
legislation it has now overturned. Women are worried about
the human rights implications of making it harder to get pay
equity,” the former Commissioners say.
The
Ministry for Women told the CEDAW committee last year that
the previous equal pay law had “introduced a practical and
accessible process to raise and consider claims of systemic
sex-based pay undervaluation in female-dominated
occupations.”
The Ministry told CEDAW the changes
had set out “a clear pay equity process to test whether
work that is predominantly done by women is free from
sex-based undervaluation.”
“Now that this
practical, accessible and clear pay equity process has been
abandoned, we need to know how women’s human rights will
be protected. We need to see the advice that the Cabinet was
given in the true spirit of transparency,” the former
Commissioners say.
“Aotearoa New Zealand
consistently tells the United Nations that it is proud of
its leadership on gender equality in the international
community. We now have to be honest that we are no longer
first in class. We are alarmed that human rights
implications were not disclosed or examined and regarded as
insignificant.”
