The New Zealand government has stopped investigations into pay inequity issues because they decided it would be too costly. Huh.
The investigations were set up by the previous Government and include research into why social workers at Child, Youth and Family are paid 9.5% less than their male counterparts and into inequities in female school support workers' wages.Cancelling the investigations, State Services Minister Tony Ryall said addressing pay inequity would "generate an additional form of remuneration pressure that is unaffordable in the current economic and fiscal environment".
Council of Trade Unions president Helen Kelly says working women deserve better.
"It is one thing to urge pay restraint in the public sector but quite another to endorse the unfair underpayment of these workers. The Government is effectively telling its own female employees that it doesn't care if it is discriminating against them.
Yeah, that sounds about right. I guess costliness doesn't matter so long as it's coming out of women's pockets.
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I live in NZ and after seeing this on the front page of The Herald I was pretty angry. I can understand that at the moment the government feels a need to tighten it's budget a tad, however I'm quite sure that the women who are currently receiving 9.5% less in pay aren't having their expenses reduced by the same amount. Perhaps in an effort to save money we could cut men's pay by the same amount, and the money that we have left over could go into any number of things that desperately need it. Food, clothing, education, medical bills. It all costs the same, no matter how much you are making!
The other thing that really really angered me was the passive reaction I got when I told people I knew. Both men and women weren't that interested in the problem and had an 'oh well' attitude. Grr..
I live in NZ and after seeing this on the front page of The Herald I was pretty angry. I can understand that at the moment the government feels a need to tighten it's budget a tad, however I'm quite sure that the women who are currently receiving 9.5% less in pay aren't having their expenses reduced by the same amount. Perhaps in an effort to save money we could cut men's pay by the same amount, and the money that we have left over could go into any number of things that desperately need it. Food, clothing, education, medical bills. It all costs the same, no matter how much you are making!
The other thing that really really angered me was the passive reaction I got when I told people I knew. Both men and women weren't that interested in the problem and had an 'oh well' attitude. Grr..
I live in NZ and after seeing this on the front page of The Herald I was pretty angry. I can understand that at the moment the government feels a need to tighten it's budget a tad, however I'm quite sure that the women who are currently receiving 9.5% less in pay aren't having their expenses reduced by the same amount. Perhaps in an effort to save money we could cut men's pay by the same amount, and the money that we have left over could go into any number of things that desperately need it. Food, clothing, education, medical bills. It all costs the same, no matter how much you are making!
The other thing that really really angered me was the passive reaction I got when I told people I knew. Both men and women weren't that interested in the problem and had an 'oh well' attitude. Grr..
I live in NZ and after seeing this on the front page of The Herald I was pretty angry. I can understand that at the moment the government feels a need to tighten it's budget a tad, however I'm quite sure that the women who are currently receiving 9.5% less in pay aren't having their expenses reduced by the same amount. Perhaps in an effort to save money we could cut men's pay by the same amount, and the money that we have left over could go into any number of things that desperately need it. Food, clothing, education, medical bills. It all costs the same, no matter how much you are making!
The other thing that really really angered me was the passive reaction I got when I told people I knew. Both men and women weren't that interested in the problem and had an 'oh well' attitude. Grr..
Ugh, somehow I'm not surprised. In Canada, we used to have a federally-sponsored program that helped workers challenge pay inequities through the courts. It was cut in the recently released budget.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090202.wequity02/BNStory/politics/
Of course, this is the same government which cut funding to women's programs in its previous budget, including women's shelters, because it believes women have already achieved equality.
http://www.rabble.ca/columnists/2008-stephen-harper-vs-feminism
Ugh, somehow I'm not surprised. In Canada, we used to have a federally-sponsored program that helped workers challenge pay inequities through the courts. It was cut in the recently released budget.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090202.wequity02/BNStory/politics/
Of course, this is the same government which cut funding to women's programs in its previous budget, including women's shelters, because it believes women have already achieved equality.
http://www.rabble.ca/columnists/2008-stephen-harper-vs-feminism
too costly for who(m)?
too costly for whom?
too costly for whom?
Ugh, somehow I'm not surprised. In Canada, we used to have a federally-sponsored program that helped workers challenge pay inequities through the courts. It was cut in the recently released budget.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090202.wequity02/BNStory/politics/
Of course, this is the same government which cut funding to women's programs in its previous budget, including women's shelters, because it believes women have already achieved equality.
http://www.rabble.ca/columnists/2008-stephen-harper-vs-feminism
New Zealand has many issues with gender inequality apparently:
http://menz.org.nz/2009/anyone-willing-to-wager-this-mother-wont-get-jail-time/comment-page-1/#comment-219617