A government worker’s story We heard the story of a first-generation Pacific worker in his early 50s who worked for the government throughout his working life. For more than 20 years, he worked for the same employer. However, his pay remained the same the whole time. He began the talanoa by telling us that, when his mother registered him at kindergarten, the kindergarten employees registered him under a Pākehā name because they could not pronounce his Pacific name. For many years, he used this name, not knowing that it was a name given to him by the Pākehā kindergarten workers to make things easier for them. Raised in the city, he grew up watching his mother and father tirelessly working four jobs between them to look after their family. Despite the challenges they faced, his parents never gave up. He wanted to go to university to make the most of the sacrifices his parents had made. While at high school, several extended family members came to stay at the family home, which meant that he and his brother had to sleep in the living room. By the time he finished high school, he had repeated his final year three times and felt he had “to do something” to help the family’s living conditions. His initial dreams of university were shelved. He found employment in a government department. On his first day of work, his mother was so proud of him. She had ironed his white Sunday shirt and he wore a tie. When he got to work, he realised that his job solely consisted of opening the mail and putting it in a cubby hole for someone else to deliver around the building. After his first week, he felt that this was not the job that his parents had come from the islands for him to have. He worked in this role for several years. During this time, he was the only Pacific worker in his team. Despite several restructures, his employer never let him go. After helping a fellow Pacific worker with a problem, his talents at last seemed to be recognised. He was moved by his employer into an administrative role. After seven years in this role, he received another promotion. Despite these apparent promotions, his employer never reviewed his performance or raised his pay. Eventually, with the support of his wife, he left this workplace. On learning of his decision to leave, his employer offered him a bonus to stay, which he declined. His employer reluctantly agreed to let him go and asked one last favour of him – to train his replacement. During this training, his replacement asked him why he was leaving the role when the pay was so good. His replacement told him that his starting wage was $65,000 a year. The Pacific worker was shocked. After more than 20 years, he had remained on his starting wage of just over $30,000 a year. 50