Source: PSA
Thousands of home support workers are today ruing the loss of nearly $28,000 in income they should have earned if the Government had not axed their pay equity claim.
One year ago today the Government cancelled 33 pay equity claims, ripped up the rules and slammed the door shut on fair pay for more than 180,000 workers – most of them women.
New figures calculated by the PSA show, as of today, home support workers alone have lost $27,728 in wages they should have had if their pay equity claim had been updated after the original claim expired in 2022 (see explanation below).
Theirs and other claims were scrapped under urgency, in secret, without consultation, riding roughshod over the democratic process.
“One year ago Minister Brooke Van Velden stood up and told 180,000 workers that their fight for fair pay didn’t matter. Today, those workers are still waiting, still underpaid, and still being told their work isn’t valued,” said Fleur Fitzsimons, National Secretary for the Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi.
“The anniversary should also be a time of reflection for the NZ First, ACT and National MPs who rushed this legislation through blind to the impact on the lives of tens of thousands of undervalued working New Zealanders.
“For thousands of home support workers, who use their own cars to deliver care for our elderly, and disabled family members, this anniversary is a bitter reminder of the pay rise they should have received but never did.”
These workers have effectively lost $27,278.70 each in the pay equity settlement they were denied – money they should have had available to support themselves and their families.
Workers like Kate Halsall from Wellington.
“That money would make the world of difference to me. It just makes me so angry and frustrated. Pay equity would have made it a lot easier to keep our cars filled up, warranted and registered, with the price of food going up because of fuel crisis, it would have helped put food on our table. Pay equity would have made us more secure and give us dignity. It’s just not fair.”
Fleur Fitzsimons said; “The Government claimed it had saved $12.8 billion by cancelling pay equity claims and David Seymour boasted the decision saved the Budget. It wasn’t a saving – it was stolen from the pay packets of low-paid women.
“We will continue to fight this shameful betrayal. The PSA, alongside four other unions, is pursuing a landmark case in the High Court arguing the Government’s changes breach the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act. The Human Rights Commission has joined the case, recognising the significance of the issues at stake. If the Government won’t listen to workers, we hope the court will.
“We will not accept a system designed to continue gender based pay discrimination. The PSA will be campaigning hard on this at the election, and calls on all political parties to commit to a new pay equity law that actually works so that every worker doing undervalued work gets the pay they deserve.”
Background
In 2017 a pay equity deal for 65,000 home support workers was enshrined in legislation by the then National-led Coalition government. The deal settled a successful court case brought by Lower Hutt aged care worker Kristine Bartlett that she was not receiving equal pay as required by the Equal Pay Act.
Only after the legislation expired in 2022 were the three unions representing care and support workers – PSA, E tū, and the New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) – legally able to raise a new claim on behalf of care and support workers.
Calculation of lost wages
PSA analysis of lost wages is based on the 21% margin above the minimum wage at the time that care and support workers received in the 2017 settlement. The settlement rates, or the minimum wage rate, whichever was higher has been compared with what the rate would have been if the 21% margin had been maintained. The comparison is based on a 30-hour work week.
The Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi is Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest trade union, representing and supporting more than 95,000 workers across central government, state-owned enterprises, local councils, health boards and community groups.