The Pay Equity Bill has been scrapped, to the relief of the NZEI Te Riu Roa.
President Lynda Stuart described the bill as “mean-spirited and short-sighted”.
“It would have put more roadblocks in the way of women who were seeking pay equity and would have made it extremely difficult for more female-dominated sectors to repeat the success of Kristine Bartlett and her union E tū, who won significant pay rises for aged care workers,” she said.
NZEI is currently in negotiations with the Ministry of Education over a pay equity settlement for teacher aides. Claims for other school support staff will follow.
In June, the union also launched a claim for pay equity for early childhood teachers and staff, uniting the private and public early childhood sector in a historic bid for fair pay. They are in the process of putting a case together.
Read more about the pay equity bill in this article.