The human, democratic and political costs of attacking pay equity

Summary:

• The government’s decision to use urgency to wipe out 33 in-progress pay equity claims violates democratic norms

• This is part of a wider undervaluing of women’s work, a situation in which even the Labour Party is not wholly innocent

• Refusing to increase pay for the likes of community support workers on $26.50 an hour may come back to haunt the government politically

An undemocratic and inequitable move

Political news this week has been dominated by the government’s decision to suddenly stop 33 pay equity claims that were in process and make it far harder for such claims to be brought in future. The claims in question were being brought on behalf of large groups of women in female-dominated occupations, arguing that they were illegitimately denied pay parity with men in equivalently skilled professions.

The decision is unprincipled on several fronts. Firstly, finance minister Nicola Willis claimed the decision was not about saving money in this year’s Budget, but this is directly contradicted by Act leader David Seymour’s assertion that the move “saved the Budget” and was designed to save “billions of dollars”.

A violation of democratic process

Secondly, the use of urgency – passing legislation in the space of 48 hours while abrogating normal process – for such a bill is entirely unjustified. Urgency should be reserved for genuine emergencies (albeit governments of all stripes have increasingly abused it). Even if the government wanted to make pay equity claims harder, it should have done so through a full consultation process in which the arguments for and against could have been explored.

What’s more, the legislation is in some senses retrospective. The 33 pay equity claims were all underway; normal due process would have been to allow those claims to be completed under the existing rules, even if the rules were to be changed for claims launched in future. And although claims already settled will be respected, their review clauses – designed to allow for pay adjustments – will “become unenforceable”, the government says.