I started off temping and doing what I used to call back then the ‘dirty work’, doing the groundwork, essentially worked yourself up and held manager roles in a renowned logistics company. Recently I was appointed as one of the regional managers. (T045) While he had positive experiences, the same worker acknowledged that: Within logistics, it’s a brutal industry … knowing that I was gay kind of did not fit well, but it was just the values that my parents taught me, the fa’a Samoa way just to hang in there and toughen it out kind of things. (T045 In contrast, a Pacific education worker shared that it was difficult for people to apply for promotion within their roles. He commented that “people have to leave their roles to apply for another role if they want to move up the pay scale and banding” (T050). Some Pacific workers highlighted that the interview process is not conducive to the Pacific way, especially for demonstrating skill set. One particular Pacific worker shared his experience: But one thing I can say is that recently I’ve been sitting on our interview panel and a lot have been Pacific staff. And one thing that I noticed across the board, not particularly to LGBTQ, Pacific across the board is that the way the interview process went wasn’t the most conducive to allow them to show their skill sets. And I think that that is such a big problem. (T046) Another Pacific worker shared the idea of perfect masculinity as being a barrier in the workplace. While this particular worker encountered few obstacles in the workplace, he shared: The few obstacles that I’ve encountered have been in Pacific spaces – situations where because you don’t fit a specific idea and patterns of masculinity and people question your integrity and ability to be effective in certain roles. (T047) In line with what has been shared by Pacific workers from outside the rainbow community regarding gaining employment, many like this particular Pacific education worker commented that “I was one of those people who was just very thankful to be getting what I was getting” (T048). Additionally, pay transparency and understanding of the banding scale were barriers for Pacific workers in the rainbow community. One Pacific worker shared that “while the ranges of salary are listed on the intranet, the actual salary for roles are not available unless you know what your colleague is getting – other than that, you won’t know where you stand” (T049). As commonly shared throughout the employment journey among many Pacific workers, the Pacific rainbow community implicitly shared their experiences of their Pacific cultural capital not being valued. One Pacific worker shared his thoughts on Pacific cultural capital not being valued, yet, in their role, Pacific peoples are expected to perform equity duties: When we have restructures, our people are the first to go because they have not met the publication criteria and haven’t met the research … because they’ve been doing all this other important work because the university says it’s important for equity, important for excellence but it doesn’t meet the progression standards. (T051) While Pacific members of the rainbow community experienced similar barriers to non-rainbow Pacific workers, they had specific concerns: disabling ideas of ‘perfect masculinity’ in the workplace, hierarchies within the rainbow community that reproduced wider social ethnic and gender privilege and discrimination against Pacific trans people in particular. Discrimination due to ethnicity and disability The disabled Pacific workers we spoke with felt that “having a disability adds another element to the pay gap” (T052) and gave several examples of where they had not been paid fairly or where discrimination occurred in the workplace. They also presented ideas that could benefit Tagata Sa’ili Mālō | Pacific disabled people in employment. The people we spoke with identified barriers before they even enter the workplace. Assumptions and biases can mean Tagata Sa’ili Mālō | Pacific disabled people are discounted before they are even interviewed. One person told us “for employers, there is an assumption that hiring a disabled person will cost more” (T023). Voices of Pacific peoples 77