I thought I’d share some photo’s of Tuesday’s successful rally challenging the government on it’s pay equity record. Enjoy.
Despite the cold weather a diverse and passionate crowd gathered to express their anger at the short-sighted decision of the National Government to close the Pay and Employment Equity Unit.
As the sponsor of the petition calling on the government to reinstate the Pay Equity reviews I was invited to speak to the crowd and I was buoyed up by their enthusiasm and commitment to a long-standing issue of injustice.
I’ve also attached the petition (in pdf. format), and the tv3 clip covering the rally.
Huge thanks to the organisers!
Question for you sue:
You challenged the “government on it’s pay equity record.”
OK – I can undrestand why lefties would upset with the decision to close the Pay and Employment Equity Unit.
But – you have to remember that National have only been in power for several months. If its such a “long-standing issue of injustice” – why did Labour not fix it in the 9 long years they were in power?
Yawn bikerkiwi, go work out what the protest was about if you want the answer.
A question for you: do you think Labour is some physical/organisational manifestation of God? If not, why do you expect them to achieve everything they could ever want to in nine years?
Can I expect the National Party to disband after this Gvernment has been voted out? Apparently you can do whatever you want in parliament. All they have to do is will it, and it is done.
Maynard – it was commented that this is a “long-standing issue of injustice”.
So – its fairly obvious that Labour have either not been aware of the issue while they were in power – or simply didnt think it was worth fixing in the (almost) decade that they were in power.
I should not be suprised that the best answer you can come up with is about manifestations of God or the National party to disband when they get voted out.
Still it guess its easier to just moan about National’s actions than take ownership of your partys non-action for such a long period.
Bikerkiwi, your ability to misjudge a situation is both amusing and stunning.
First of all, the last Labour government oversaw a number of pay equity reviews which resulted in, for example, a 20% rise in pay for nurses. The pay equity reviews which were scrapped by this National-led government were in place for, the most part, school support staff (ie. librarians, teacher aides etc., who play an exceptionally important role in the education of our children) and social workers (who’re at the coalface of poverty in New Zealand).
Pay equity is about valuing work fairly. It is indefensible for workers such as those written above to be paid around $12.94 per hour when the impact they have is so vital and the skills required are so unique. Labour initiated these reviews and the result would have been a real increase in their pay and it would have meant that their work is FINALLY being valued fairly.
Pay equity can not be met with a silver bullet, it takes things like the Pay and Employment Equity Unit to provide employers with the tools to fairly value their workers.
These were done by Labour. They were scrapped by National.
As I said, your ability to have misjudged this issue is both amusing and stunning.
BikerKiwi,
Sigh! The real question you should have asked is why the first action of the National governmnet in 1990 was to repeal Labour’s Pay Equity Act, and why in 2009 they have now cancelled pay equity investigations & closed the Unit? Learn your history. History repeats. Could it possibly be because they are a little bit of a misogynistic party with some very petty priorities?
Also, did you actually attend any of the many meetings held to develop the Action Plan for NZ Women, which was launched in 2004 by Ruth Dyson after extensive consultation? You could have put in lots of comments on economic sustainability and the importance of pay equity work, like 100’s of other women, and been part of the Labour government plan to address it. The Pay Equity Act could not just be put back in place due to some factors you might want to research, but Labour actually had a plan to address Pay Equity in the public sector and to extend that to the private sector, and got on to it pretty quickly, while also dealing with things like reversing superannuation cuts; saving state housing & ACC; instituting interest-free student loans; setting up PHO’s & cheaper doctor’s fees; replacing the Employment Contracts Act; setting up Modern Apprenticeships – I could go on, but you get the picture of cleaning up the National mess??
Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value is a vitally important topic – don’t denigrate it; and get yourself some facts.