The Council of Trade Unions has put forward a plan to reduce the 27.6 percent real wage gap with Australia.

“The gender pay gap is stubbornly persisting at around 15 per cent, despite rising incomes, showing there is still discrimination against women in today’s labour market,” CTU vice president Helen Kelly said today.

“With the gender pay gap hovering at 13%, at current progress we are still many years away from true pay and employment equity for women,” CTU vice president Helen Kelly said.

[11]"Working women will be welcoming news today that the gender pay gap has decreased from 16 per cent to 13 per cent in the last year," Council of Trade Unions Vice President Helen Kelly said today.

"Women continue to earn 14 per cent less on average than men. The pay gap persists because of problems such as occupational segregation, undervaluing of work primarily done by women and discrimination," said Carol Beaumont, CTU secretary, on Suffrage Day today.

Unions are campaigning for pay equity to eliminate the gender pay gap between women and men. Pay equity means women are paid the same as men for the same work, and for work of equal value.

The Council of Trade Unions is dismayed by the recently released New Zealand Income Survey, which shows a widening gap in the income between men and women.

The NZ Income Survey for the June 2005 quarter, released by Statistics New Zealand, shows that pay for full time men went up approximately 6.3% since the June 2004 quarter, compared with 3.2% for women. The rates for male part time workers increased by 8%, as compared to 2.8% for women. Overall, this means that the gender pay gap has increased ? with women earning 82% on average of what men do, as compared to 86% in 2004.

Unions welcome the establishment of the Pay and Employment Equity Unit which is set to tackle the pay gap between men and women, Council of Trade Unions vice-president Helen Kelly said today.

You can make a difference on Saturday July 27. Make sure your are enrolled. Check the facts on the CTU facts sheets. Make your vote count.

Pay Equity for Maori Women

The Ministry of Womens affairs has published a booklet on pay equity for Maori women.