Changes to Equal Pay Act a shocking blow to women and education

The changes announced to the Equal Pay Act today are a shocking blow to women and education, NZEI Te Riu Roa says.


The majority of workers in education are women and many were involved in pay equity claims or reviews that have been torpedoed by the Government’s move.


Pay equity means equal pay for work of equal value, regardless of gender. Today we’ve seen an attack on that.


Teacher aide, and NZEI Te Riu Roa member, Ally Kingi says she is shocked and gutted.


“Our pay equity settlement in 2020 was life changing for teacher aides, but those pay gaps re-open over time. To be told this Government is happy to allow gender pay gaps to open up for a decade at a time without the opportunity for reviews is devastating.”


Teacher aides were in the process of a pay equity review. Under the changes they will be banned from progressing this. Reviews were also in train for librarians, science technicians, school administrators, kaiārahi i te reo, and therapists. All of those are now on the scrap heap.


Teachers raised the largest ever pay equity claim in Aotearoa in 2020. Huge amounts of work have gone into the claim in the four years since then. Today’s announcement ends the process before any settlement could be reached.


Primary school teacher and NZEI Te Riu Roa member Kalesha Segatta says it’s a dark day for teachers.


“We have a teacher shortage. We need to make teaching a profession that attracts and retains good people. We need teachers to feel they are valued and that they are not punished for working in a sector with a high proportion of women workers. This decision has done the opposite.”