'This is urgent': Fed up employment commissioner launches inquiry in low pay for Pacific workers

Sunday, 6 December 2020

Human Rights Commissioner Saunoamaali’i Dr Karanina Sumeo says change is urgent.

Fed up with what she says is a “lack of urgency” from the Government, New Zealand’s employment rights watchdog has launched her own inquiry into the nation’s lowest paid workers - Pacific people.

The inquiry will examine the nature and extent of discrimination against Pacific workers, and why it happens, in a bid to close persistent gender and ethnic pay gaps.

Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner, Saunoamaali'i Dr Karanina Sumeo, said the last time her office took such a step was in 2012 when then-commissioner Judy McGregor exposed exploitation in the elder care industry.

McGregor went undercover as part of her investigation, which led to improvements in pay, training and staffing rates. Sumeo plans to travel the country to talk to Pacific workers and their employers, focusing on the manufacturing, retail, trade and accommodation sectors.

* Women's stories of pay discrimination highlight call for pay transparency

* Pay equity legislation jumps hurdle and heads into second reading

* It's time to end the secrecy over unequal pay**

“This is urgent,” Sumeo said. “I live in South Auckland. Hardship and poverty are in my face. Covid has hit us hard, we know that with our kids dropping out of school to work.”

“I don’t want to see that in three years’ time. But I don’t feel like there’s any urgency in Government and that’s why we are doing an inquiry instead of yet another literature review, to make the rest of New Zealand aware of this issue.”

Sumeo decided to focus on Pacific workers because they were the most marginalised, according to a report by her office.

It found Pasifika were overlooked for job advancement through training and promotions; and often, workplace discrimination was unreported due to fears of reprisal.

Pacific women were the lowest paid group in New Zealand, with the wage gap between them and European men in the public sector a staggering 27 percent.

There is no similar data from the private sector, as there are no mandatory reporting requirements.

Last political term, the government passed a new Pay Equity law focusing on gender equity, allowing workers to make a pay equity claim - arguing their sector was underpaid because it was traditionally female - without going to court.

Campaigners including Sumeo said the government also needed to mandate pay transparency within that law, by requiring business to disclose pay rates – including in job listings.

That did not happen and work on pay transparency has since stalled, despite recent transparency laws adopted in similar countries like Australia.

“I want pay equity for everybody,” Sumeo said. “But we are still only talking about gender. It’s bigger than that, that’s why we need more transparency. Unfortunately, I don’t see any signs of that being addressed.”

The campaign is being announced on Monday. It already had the support of unions, who have been actively behind the commissioner’s previous equity work.

E Tū campaign organiser Fala Haulangi said she was angry at lack of progress.

Pasifika workers Nia Bartley, left, and Jennifer Laulala are both speaking out about the ethnic pay gap for Pacific people in NZ.

Many of her workers had two or three jobs to make ends meet, often sleeping just a few hours a night. They had limited quality of life, she said.

“We always talk about inequality and poverty in New Zealand but all we get in response is lip service,” Haulangi said. “The real way to address it is to sort out the income of hard-working people at the bottom.”

Health sector worker Nia Bartley said workers who had held the same role for years were often not aware they were being underpaid and were fearful of repercussions if they questioned it.

“They've been told they should be grateful to have a job, even though they are highly skilled. Having them on the same rate as someone junior is similar to exploitation.”

The report on Pacific people said the discrimination began in the 1970s when Pasifika were first brought to New Zealand to do jobs locals refused to do, and continues today.

Jennifer Laulala, who migrated to New Zealand from Samoa, told Stuff when she first arrived in New Zealand she didn’t realise she was being underpaid.

“When I first started, I thought $20 an hour was huge. I had no idea about rent or bills or anything.”

Laulala, who now works for the Ministry of Justice, said it took her a long time to realise the impacts of discrimination. Once she did, she began educating her family and community, beginning with her daughter.

“But I am tired of having conversations at the dinner table about it. I feel like it’s action time.”

Sumeo said the inquiry would begin in January, and once complete would make recommendations on policy, legislation and regulations, in 2022.

“I am expecting some nervousness from businesses who may not want people questioning their recruitment and promotion practices,” she said. “But I hope people will begin to question their own beliefs and biases. This could prompt us to think differently.”

Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Michael Wood said in a statement he welcomed any research that helped to understand why Pacific people experienced worse employment outcomes than other groups.

He said increasing the minimum wage, doubling sick leave and introducing Fair Pay Agreements would improve conditions for lower-paid workers.

Fair Pay Agreements set minimum employment standards for specific occupations and sectors, to make it easier for workers to receive fair wages and conditions.

Wood also said - echoing a promise outlined in a letter to unions from his predecessor Iain Lees-Galloway in the last political term - that the Government was committed to improving pay transparency, including by ethnicity and gender and he would have more to say on that in the coming months.

Green party spokesperson for workplace relations Jan Logie said it was 'unfortunate' the inquiry was required but she was grateful the commissioner was taking the initiative 'in the the absence of a focused intentional plan to eliminate discrimination'.

'What we've seen through the fight for equal pay for women is that historical discrimination doesn't magically disappear when you point it out or even when you legislate for it, but that it requires intentional effort,' she said.

Logie said the Government had a range of tools available to it - such as legislating for pay transparency, using procurement levers and being a good example of an employer. It had not used those, she said.

'We have to do all of those things, not only to improve pay but to improve access to promotions and recognition of the skills people bring to a job,' Logie said.

Read more about the report on discrimination against Pacific people here: https://www.hrc.co.nz/files/6316/0695/6263/Talanoa_-_Human_rights_issues_for_Pacific_people_in_Aotearoa_New_Zealand.pdf