The PSA has welcomed Auckland Council agreeing to a significant pay rise for council library workers, despite the Government scrapping pay equity for them and many other workers.

Around 800 library workers - librarians, library assistants and those in specialist roles - will receive a pay rise backdated from 1 September. The increase amounts to thousands of dollars in extra pay a year on average for each worker.

"We welcome this increase as a positive step towards recognising the true value of the work of library workers in Auckland," said Fleur Fitzsimons, National Secretary for the Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi.

"The Government cancelled this pay equity claim and made sweeping changes to the Equal Pay Act 1972, but we applaud the Council for doing the right thing regardless.

"This is a well-deserved pay rise for these mainly women doing it tough as the cost of living continues to put pressure on household budgets. Library workers are highly skilled professionals, working with ever changing technology and delivering critical services each day to the many members of the communities they serve.

"This is a women-dominated profession and undervalued as a result and while the pay increase is needed and welcome, it is not true pay equity.

"The PSA reserves the right to take a future pay equity claim on their behalf in the future when a fairer legal framework is enacted."

Speaking on behalf of her colleagues, PSA Delegate Suzanne Moore said library workers felt hurt and devalued when their pay equity claim was axed.

"So, this recognition from Auckland Council of the valuable work done by library staff in their communities is very much appreciated. They have gone above and beyond when they didn’t have to, and we thank them for that.

"Our members are having a hard time just covering the basics of living. They struggle to save. I often talk to women working well past retirement age because they simply cannot afford to stop so this will make a real difference to their ability to support themselves and their families."

"Auckland Council is doing what’s right in closing pay gaps, and we hope other councils that were covered by the pay equity claim follow suit," said Fleur Fitzsimons.

The settlement follows a significant pay increase in June for library workers employed by Christchurch City Council.

Background

The PSA lodged the library workers’ pay equity claim with Auckland, Tauranga, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin councils in 2019. Library workers were one of the 33 pay equity claims that was close to being settled before being cancelled by May’s amendments to the Pay Equity Act made under urgency without consultation with impacted workers and unions.

About PSA:

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.

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