Pacific workers from the construction sector appear to have been offered some opportunities to discuss pay rises. However, like the Pacific manufacturing workers, construction workers “always felt underpaid” (S213). Pacific construction workers said that employers would imply that they should be grateful or that a worker “was asking at the wrong time” (S206). At other times, they would be ignored and “not taken seriously when I talked to managers” (S200). In another case, one Pacific construction worker’s employer did not offer him a pay rise or a bonus for his efforts but a barbecue. He told us: Last year, my boss bought me a barbecue as a pay review bonus instead of giving me an hourly increase. Kick in the gut! But I took it and said thanks. (S197) Pacific health workers also told us that negotiating pay “can be difficult” (S068) and a negative experience due to Pacific workers feeling fearful, anxious or shy, saying “I’ve never felt bold enough to negotiate” (S068). Another Pacific worker expressed being driven by the fear of losing an opportunity: I will just take what I’m given out of fear I may miss out on the role if I negotiate. (S085) As a result of this fear, many Pacific workers entering the health sector are settling on low pay rates and are not realising pay discrepancies until they are in employment and talking with colleagues. Many Pacific peoples shared with us that they felt their pay was not reflective of their worth. There was sometimes a sense that the roles they occupied were not worth fair pay or a pay rise. One Pacific construction worker told us they had “never been a part of the process – my role is never considered worthy of a pay rise” (S199). Recently, I’ve had to do this – I told my employer that the salary they offered me was undervaluing me as a person but also undervaluing the hard work in the 10 years I’ve already worked here, and if they don’t change this offer, I won’t be taking this role. Luckily for me they changed this, but I shouldn’t have had this conversation in the first place. (S294) The stories we heard from Pacific workers in other sectors raised similar issues. In one instance, a Pacific worker shared having been employed on minimum wage his entire working life with no opportunity to negotiate pay. He was even required to work when he was unwell. In this case, he felt obliged to continue employment in these working conditions to provide for his family. We did hear from a small number of Pacific workers who were able to negotiate fair pay. These people talked about having the confidence to speak up and to ask for what you are worth. One Pacific manufacturing worker said that “our Pacific people have to be confident enough to voice themselves and ask for more pay and show all the hard works they have done” (S008). Another Pacific worker agreed and felt there was an opportunity to build confidence, both in education and employment, saying “I think instilling confidence about negotiating pay, especially for us Pasifika women, should be encouraged more and taught” (S132). Desire to be paid the living wage Pacific workers are the most likely by ethnicity to be earning less than the living wage (see Table 7). About one in three Pacific workers earns below the living wage, at 32.98 percent. Broken down by gender, we find that 17,500 Pacific men and 19,800 Pacific women earn below the living wage. This means that 29.91 percent of all Pacific men and 36.46 percent of all Pacific women earn less than the living wage. This compares with 24.45 percent of European women and 16.86 percent of European men.42 We did encounter some instances where Pacific workers had raised pay issues with their employers and got a positive outcome, as one Pacific public servant told us: 42 Analysis carried out by Work Research Institute based on data from Household Labour Force Survey in the Integrated Data infrastructure. Voices of Pacific peoples 45