Workers belonging to the Public Service Association and
New Zealand Nurses’ Organisation alongside public
supporters will rally in support of pay equity at Parliament
this Monday.
Care and support worker Kate Halsall is
bringing along a trolley of groceries to symbolise the
earnings she is missing out on every week. On average, care
and support workers have been missing out on $145.85 every
week since their pay equity claim was
cancelled.
“Groceries, warrants of fitness, absolutely
everything is going up except my pay packet,” she
says.
“I hear from my coworkers that everyone is
constantly juggling their budgets. If there’s even one
unexpected little hiccup, our whole budgets are blown. We do
important, life-saving work – it’s so wrong that we’re not
valued for the work we do.”
“Women have not forgotten
the betrayal of the National-led Government when, under the
cover of darkness, they cancelled pay equity claims and
gutted the Equal Pay Act,” PSA National Secretary, Fleur
Fitzsimons, says.
“As we saw in the People’s Select
Committee report this week, the changes to pay equity that
this Government made last year were an abhorrent abuse of
power. New Zealanders value women’s work, and believe
everyone in female-dominated sectors deserve to be paid
fairly.
“This rally is part of a whole week of action
in support of working women in the lead-up to International
Women’s Day on 8 March.”
NZNO spokesperson and aged
care health care assistant Lisa Marriner had her pay equity
claim cancelled last year.
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“It’s taken for granted
that women in female-dominated sectors such as care and
support are paid much less than men in other sectors,” she
says.
“We are acutely aware we are undervalued
compared to men. We know our value and how important our
work is but it’s more than that. It’s actually not fair
that a man with similar skills and experience to us in a
male-dominated sector is paid much more than us because
someone, somewhere decided their work is worth more than
ours.
“That’s why we must keep speaking out. For
ourselves, our colleagues, our daughters and our
nieces.”
Rally details
What:
Rally in support of pay equity and working
women.
When: 12:00-12:30pm, Monday 2
March.
Where: Parliament
Lawn.
Confirmed MPs in attendance include Labour MP
Jan
Tinetti.
