6. What unions told us Bwatleon valaua non mera mai bugesi – Some leaders are up in the air, while others grow from the earth. Vanuatu (Raga) In 2021, Aotearoa New Zealand’s overall union membership was 20.1 percent. Pacific peoples have the highest union membership rate of any ethnic group – 24.7 percent of the Pacific population are union members, very closely followed by Māori (24.1 percent). The proportion for New Zealand European’s is 19.9 percent and for Asian and Other (combined) is 15.9 percent.56 56 During our Inquiry, we spoke with many Pacific workers who were union members. We also engaged with unions themselves, particularly their Pacific representative bodies (PRBs). Many of the experiences, aspirations and solutions shared with us by union PRBs were the same as those of Pacific workers generally. This section provides a brief overview of Pacific union membership and the benefits that brings and then focuses on the findings that were unique to the PRBs. Data provided by the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions. Voices of Pacific peoples 83