A year after the Coalition Government brutally scrapped their Pay Equity claims, the rising cost of living and the fuel crisis is compounding the financial struggle for undervalued and hardworking nurses and their whānau, NZNO says.
Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO last September became the first organisation to file claims under the new system, despite the almost impossibly high thresholds required.
The claims were filed on behalf of NZNO Hospice and Plunket members, covering about 750 and 800 members respectively. Hospice and Plunket were the most advanced of NZNO’s 12 previous claims which were scrapped overnight with the Government’s changes on 6 May.
NZNO delegate and Whānau Āwhina Plunket nurse Hannah Cook says a year after having their claims cancelled, Plunket nurses are doing it tough.
"It was a shock to have our hard work cancelled overnight in a backroom political deal. On top of having to still endure historical gender wage discrimination, we have to cope with the rising cost of living and now a fuel crisis.
"Around 98% of Plunket nurses are female and we look after about 80% of all newborn babies in Aotearoa New Zealand.
"We are skilled and experienced; and we shouldn’t be paid less because our female-dominated work has been historically and systemically undervalued and underpaid," Hannah Cook says.
NZNO spokesperson and Hospice nurse Fiona McDougal says almost 95% of NZNO nurses and support staff working for Hospice are female.
"The work we do is skilled and difficult. We don’t just provide health care for those at the end of their lives. Our work involves supporting, counselling, and caring for people of all ages needing end-of-life and holistic palliative care in hospice, their homes and the community. We also support their whānau.
"Not everyone is cut out for the work we do yet it is a crucial part of a caring society.
"It is no longer acceptable for us to be underpaid because caring has long been considered the role of women," Fiona McDougal says.
More information about Pay Equity can be found here: https://maranga-mai.nzno.org.nz/pay_equity