Women across Aotearoa are being encouraged to send a message to the government that women should be paid what they are owed.
Campaign group, STILL Minding the Gap, is calling on women to invoice Prime Minister Christopher Luxon for wages they have lost due to gender and ethnic pay gaps prevalent in New Zealand.
While the median wage gap sees women losing $25 per week on average compared to men, ethnic pay gap disparities mean wāhine Māori lose more than double at $58.40 per week.
The group is pushing for the government to mandate gender pay gap reporting to safeguard women’s pay, with research showing it can lower disparities by 20-40 percent.
Research Advisory committee member, Dr Kathie Irwin (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Kahungunu), says the approach is a “bit of a gimmick” to get Luxon’s attention.
“If you generally want to undervalue Māori development, if you really want to undervalue women, okay, say that. Say that in your annual report and look, then sit back and see what happens to your recruiting. You know, who’s going to get the best talent?”
Irwin says she has experienced pay inequities throughout her career, especially in tagged-Māori roles that required cultural skill sets. She recalls a junior lectureship role in Māori education that she landed at Massey University, where she found out she was one of the lowest paid on an 8-tier scale upon talking to other junior lecturers.
“I didn’t talk to one other man who had been appointed at the bottom of the scale. Some had a bare BA to start a junior lectureship - I had a teacher training degree, a teacher training qualification, I had a BEd and a first-class honours degree, and none of that mattered. I was still on the bottom rung,” says Irwin.
“I am one of those women that missed out on nearly a quarter million dollars through the way in which women and Māori women are particularly positioned differently in the university sector.”
CEO of YWCA Tāmaki Makaurau, Teresa Tepania-Ashton (Ngā Puhi, Ngāti Kahu ki Whangaroa), says the money lost within a year is money that could have been utilised.
“Tuatahi, nui rawa te toru mano tāra ia tau mō te whānau, ka taea taua manu moni te whakamahi mō te utu whare, piri hoki te kai mā te whānau me te tautoko i ngā tamariki o ngā utu kura,” says Tepania-Ashton.
She says that while there are many women discriminated against, her biggest concern is for young wāhine Māori entering the workforce.
“Ki te kore ēnei rerekētanga e whakatikaina ka tīmata rātou kei muri kē, kore he pai tērā. He tīmata i te ao mahi he rerekē mai te timatatanga. Nō reira, e tika ana kia whai wāhi ngā wāhine Māori ki ngā utu me ngā wāhitanga ōrite. Ko te mea nui ko te ōritetanga o te utu,” says Tepania-Ashton.
The organisation has created a link for an automated invoice on their website, which will direct users to the Prime Minister’s email and is hoping to flood Luxon’s inbox.
