NACT is stealing wages from women
On Monday I posted my musings on insecure and precarious work:
Insecure and precarious work
A longer, more academic piece that considers the rise of insecure and precarious work, the impacts on our collective well-being, and how we can respond to the social rupturing that it causes:Dr Bex on Social Issues in Aotearoa NZ is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
The following day, the Minister for Workplace Relations, ACT MP Brooke van Velden announced a halt to all current workplace pay equity claims (there are 33 in total, waiting to be heard - quite a substantive number, indicating that New Zealand has a quietly embarrassing track record when it comes to paying women a decent salary), and a new (and higher) requirement for pay equity claims. Brooke was seemingly quite proud of herself for this achievement:
My social media feeds have gone a hundy since then, and rightfully so.
My favourite image to date is this cartoon by
:
In a post associated with the image, Daniel writes:
After throwing trans women under the bus in the name of “supporting women”, the Coalation Government that apparently cares so much about the wellbeing of women that it’s willing to waste millions of dollars on a pointless bill to “define” what one is, this week has declared it’s not willing to waste any more money working to achieve pay equity and settle pay equity claims.
The government announced yesterday that it had, under urgency, undertaken a massive overhaul of New Zealand’s pay equity regime, making it more difficult for people (mainly women) to take pay equity claims.
And when I say “under urgency,” I mean all within 24 hours, without any consultation from the voting public or any other agency, as Sarah Pallet bleakly summarised:
This isn’t just showing blatant disregard for women, but also continues a trend from this government that shows a general disdain for workers, especially those on lower wages. This is just the latest in a series of roll backs and cuts that directly hurt the woking class, which thus far has included cutting living wage protections, cutting sick leave for part-time workers, and raising the minimum wage by an insulting 35 cents - all during a cost of living crisis it swore it would solve.
Labour have galvanised into action with a fervour I haven’t seen in some time. The following clip brilliantly encapsulates the anger and rage of so many women:
Many women in Aotearoa New Zealand are underpaid. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that continuing to underpay women means this current government has more money to give to their wealthy mates. Labour are correct in noting that this announcement is a slap in the face for many women employed across a number of vocations.
The current Minister for Women has previously stated in the House that the amendments to the Equal Pay Act are good for women and fixing a failed system. The associated MfW website page is strongly in favour of pay equity, stating:
The Equal Pay Act was amended in 2020 to replace the court-based approach to pay equity claims with an accessible process based on the existing bargaining framework in the Employment Relations Act 2000.
The Court of Appeal found that the Equal Pay Act required equal pay for men and women doing the same work and equal pay for men and women doing different work deemed to be of the same value.
Why the sudden turn around? As
writes,The Finance Minister needs to make things appear less dire. So there are hollow words claiming that the process needs improving, but that is simply a smokescreen; you don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater to make a few tweaks.
Nicola had been crowing about how much the government had saved on emergency housing. It’s incredible what can be achieved by telling people the inn is full and no longer counting them … Old mate Brooke had a plan: “If we change the rules, keep things less fair, and apply that retrospectively, we can save heaps. How many of these people would vote for us anyway?”
A grotesque spectacle. Savings are being made by continuing to underpay women; these two smile like financial geniuses. It is a shameful attack by a panicked government, plunging a knife into the underpaid to make the books look better.
Nick’s not the only one connecting the dots.
notes that the increase in defence spend by this government is coming from workers’ wages:
Now seems like a good time to join a protest action. I’m in Hamilton so you bet I’m going to go along to the pay equity protest outside my local MP’s office. There are several protest actions planned about the country - do find one that works and go along.
Even better, write to your local MP and tell them exactly what you think about this government refusing to pay women what they’re worth so they can put more money into the pockets of their already-weathty mates.
Lastly, if it all feels a bit grim, then do take some joy from
wonderfully tongue-in-cheek piece:
Totally agree. Having just watched the third and final debate and vote I was proud of the Opposition speakers, disgusted by the Coalition speakers. This is another shameful day in New Zealand Politics - perhaps one of the most shameful ever
The National female MPs now wear the same look that Shane Reti and Tama Potiki have had for a year and a half - shame!