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Giving change at the till - Source: ONE News -
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The scrapping of the Department of Labour's pay and employment equity unit is a chance to put forward legislative changes that are needed to protect women, says the National Council of Women of New Zealand.
The council has been demanding equal pay for equal work since 1896 but on Thursday Minister of Labour Kate Wilkinson said seven jobs in the unit would go as part of the "reprioritising" of government spending.
The government was advised by other groups, including the National Advisory Council on the Employment of Women, and women would not lose their voice on issues which were the responsibility of all employers, Wilkinson says.
But NCWNZ national president Elizabeth Bang says she is disappointed by the disestablishing of the unit.
"Equal pay for equal work has always been high on the NCWNZ agenda and with women earning an average of 12% less than men, there is still considerable distance to go," she says.
"Pay equity is a topic NCWNZ has worked hard on for over a century and we will continue to do so until the day when equal wages are paid for equal work."
NCWNZ says it is not sufficient to say that good employers would redress the equity problem and the organisation wants all employers to remediate the current situation - or for there to be a penalty for those who do not.
"Now that pay equity is back on the agenda, NCWNZ calls for changes in the law that will protect women and reduce the gender pay gap," Bang says.
On Friday Equal Employment Opportunities commissioner Judy McGregor said that she was disappointed by the unit being scrapped, but welcomed the government's interest in ensuring that all employers took responsibility for pay and employment equity.
The Human Rights Commission plans a roundtable discussion to look at ways to continue action towards closing the gender pay gap.
"The Pay and Employment Equity Unit ensured there was sustained attention on the undervaluing of women's work in the labour market and the lack of representation of women at senior levels in the workforce," McGregor said.
Without government leadership on the issue, the public and private sectors would lack the incentive to improve the situation, she said.
The minister has been invited to speak at the commission-hosted event.
