9 June 2009
Media Statement

Wong wrong on National Government stance on pay equity

National is continuing to fail women on pay equity and is attempting to mislead the public into believing it’s doing something it's not, Labour Women’s Affairs spokesperson Sue Moroney says.

“Claims by Women's Affairs Minister Pansy Wong that the National Government is committed to addressing the issue of pay equity are laughable and just plain wrong,” Sue Moroney said.

“Already this year, State Services Minister Tony Ryall has scrapped an investigation into pay equity and Minister of Labour Kate Wilkinson has disbanded the jobs of researchers looking at pay equity.

“Considering that the jobs of experienced researchers on pay equity were recently scrapped under her government, launching a new round of pay equity research is little more than a sham.

“How can anyone take Pansy Wong seriously when her government has done everything possible to halt pay equity investigations?

“State Services Minister Tony Ryall was even quoted earlier this year as say he had cancelled pay equity investigations because they could `generate an additional form of remuneration pressure that is unaffordable in the current economic and fiscal environment',” Sue Moroney said.

“While Labour Minister Kate Wilkinson said the research unit on pay equity in her Ministry had been disbanded because the issue was the responsibility of all employers and ‘good employers will work to tackle it’. Is Pansy Wong now saying her colleagues were wrong when they made their statements?

“Pansy Wong is also only focusing on getting women to do jobs in male-dominated occupations when the real issue is properly valuing the work that women do in all occupations.

“She is effectively telling school support staff that the gender pay gap will be fixed by them becoming prison officers rather than them been paid properly for the hard work they do.

“The gender pay gap will increase under this strategy,” Sue Moroney said.

ENDS

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