work or short-term labour-hire agreements, are
informal economy participants or hold multiple jobs.
Therefore, using an intersectional lens to review the
literature allows a greater understanding of what
it means to be Pacific in the Aotearoa New Zealand
workforce and what other factors impact that
experience.
3.4 Human rights obligations
The labour market practices that allow inequities
to persist engage a range of human rights
obligations – most notably, the rights to be free from
discrimination, to work, to have just and favourable
work conditions and to have an adequate standard of
living. These rights are central to human dignity for all
persons.
of just and favourable conditions of work which
ensure, in particular:
(a) Remuneration which provides all workers, as a
minimum, with:
(i)
Fair wages and equal remuneration for
work of equal value without distinction
of any kind, in particular women being
guaranteed conditions of work not inferior
to those enjoyed by men, with equal pay
for equal work;
(ii) A decent living for themselves and their
families in accordance with the provisions
of the present Covenant;
(b) Safe and healthy working conditions;
The New Zealand Government is a State Party to
several core international human rights conventions.
The right to work is explicitly recognised in Articles
6 and 7 of the International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).76 Article 6 of the
ICESCR provides:
1. The States Parties to the present Covenant
recognize the right to work, which includes the
right of everyone to the opportunity to gain his
[sic] living by work which he [sic] freely chooses
or accepts and will take appropriate steps to
safeguard this right.
2. The steps to be taken by a State Party to the
present Covenant to achieve the full realization
of this right shall include technical and vocational
guidance and training programmes, policies and
techniques to achieve steady economic, social
and cultural development and full and productive
employment under conditions safeguarding
fundamental political and economic freedoms to
the individual.
Article 7 of the ICESCR expands on what is required to
achieve just and favourable work conditions:
The States Parties to the present Covenant
recognize the right of everyone to the enjoyment
(c) Equal opportunity for everyone to be
promoted in his [sic] employment to an
appropriate higher level, subject to no
considerations other than those of seniority
and competence;
(d) Rest, leisure and reasonable limitation of
working hours and periodic holidays with pay,
as well as remuneration for public holidays
The rights to work, just and favourable work
conditions and an adequate standard of living are
also protected under a number of other human rights
instruments.77 The principles of non-discrimination
and equality are also set out in these instruments –
part and parcel of the rights and freedoms that these
conventions provide is the requirement that they
apply to all people regardless of gender, race, sex,
ethnicity or disability status.
Each international human rights convention
establishes its own monitoring body that periodically
reviews State Parties’ performance of the obligations
contained in the articles of the convention. Relevant
to the Pacific Pay Gap Inquiry are the following
recommendations made by these monitoring bodies
to the New Zealand Government.
76
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Article 6 and Article 7.
77
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Article 7 and Article 11.
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