Public Service Association members including Nicole Benuert, Caroline Fisher and Debbie Cleaver at an Equal Pay Day picnic on the front lawn at Parliament in 2015. Photo / Mark Mitchell, File
Public Service Association members including Nicole Benuert, Caroline Fisher and Debbie Cleaver at an Equal Pay Day picnic on the front lawn at Parliament in 2015. Photo / Mark Mitchell, File
Opinion by Rae Julian
OPINION
1960. I was at university on a studentship, bonded to be a teacher and we were given the news.
Now women teachers would be paid at the same rate as the men, as equal pay had been legislated for the public service.
It took another 12 years for theEqual Pay Act to ensure that the private sector followed suit.
Twelve years of concerted effort by women’s organisations, trade unions and a specially established group, the Council for Equal Pay and Opportunity (CEPO). It seemed that equality had been attained.
After all, it was the 1970s, a time of liberation. The old arguments: that men were the principal breadwinners; that woman worked only until marriage and children dominated their lives; that we didn’t want careers; that our training and qualifications counted for nothing, no longer held force.
After all, we had the pill and could control our fertility. We no longer promised to obey as part of our wedding vows.
International Women’s Year in 1975 led to a United Nations Decade for Women. The Council for Equal Pay and Opportunity did not self-destruct in 1972. Most of the stalwart members, including Elizabeth Orr, Sonja Davies, Rita King, Peg Hutchison, Ria McBride and Ken Douglas continued to meet. They recognised that there was still a long way to go to reach the second goal, equal opportunity.
I became their secretary in 1974. It was clear that gender equality in all aspects of employment was far off.
Discrimination was a major factor. We supported the many activities, such as the biennial United Women’s Conventions from 1973, with Council for Equal Pay and Opportunity members involved in their organisation and workshops.
The Human Rights Commission was established in 1978, following legislation in 1977. This outlawed discrimination in employment on the grounds of gender, as well as race, religious or ethical belief, and marital status. Ria and Peg were among the first Commissioners.
The Council for Equal Pay and Opportunity went into recession. Our job seemed to be done.
When I was appointed to the commission in 1987 with special responsibility for women’s rights, it was obvious that gender equality was still far off. Women’s average earnings were over 16 per cent lower than those of men. The gap for Māori and Pasifika women was even larger.
'Women want equal pay' tea towel from New Zealand Clerical Workers Union in 1985. Photo / Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, File
The reason was clear – jobs performed mainly by women attracted lower pay despite the comparable skills, qualifications, and experience brought to mainly male and mainly female work.
Equal pay for work of equal value was the new campaign and the Council for Equal Pay and Opportunity became the Coalition For Equal Value Equal Pay with a newly motivated group. I spent years arguing the case of nurses and police officers. The latter, despite a much shorter training period, were paid at a much higher rate.
Ah, those male Rotarians would say, but police jobs are much more dangerous. Tell that to a nurse on night duty who, with no doctor readily available, has to make a decision that might save a human life, was my response.
It is interesting to note that, even today, the total starting salary for a police officer is $62,971 while that of a graduate nurse is a maximum of $60,000.
Rae Julian. Photo / Supplied
Progress was achieved with the Employment Equity Act in 1990. Its life was very short as it was repealed by the new National Government coming into office a few months later.
My term with the Human Rights Commission ended in February 1991 and I was assured that I had no chance of an extension. I spent most of the next ten years working overseas.
The Coalition For Equal Value Equal Pay did not give up and it was exciting to see the success of their and the Council of Trade Unions campaign with the Kristine Bartlett case, leading finally to the Equal Pay Amendment Act which came into force in 2020.
Now the gap is 9 per cent - how can we reduce it further?
Rae Julian is a former Council for Equal Pay and Opportunity secretary and Human Rights Commission member.
