were aware that they were trans or non-binary, 11
percent reported receiving worse pay or conditions
than co-workers while 9 percent reported being
denied a promotion.
4.3 The Pacific Pay Gap: construction
The Construction and Utilities Grouping is the thirdlargest employer of Pacific peoples as of June 2022,
comprising about 12 percent of the Pacific workforce
or approximately 21,700 workers.128 It is the secondlargest industry for Pacific men, as approximately
16 percent of Pacific men work in the sector and
they comprise approximately 93 percent of Pacific
peoples employed in construction.129 Future of work
projections suggest that job growth can be expected
in the construction sector.130 The Pacific construction
workforce has seen intense growth since early 2013.131
In 2021, the median hourly earnings from main job
of Pacific men in construction was $28.00 compared
to $30.00 for European men, representing a 6.67
per cent pay gap.132 Further, given that construction
is a male-dominated industry, little data is available
on wages for Pacific women employed in the
construction industry.133
A study by Hurt-Suwan and Mahler on the precarious
employment of Māori and Pasifika workers in the
construction industry found that the cumulative
effects of low income, a lack of opportunity to upskill
and progress, unstable and irregular work and
risk of injury produce adverse social outcomes for
Pacific construction workers.134 These adverse social
outcomes can be seen in the in-work poverty135 rate
for Pacific workers in the construction industry, which
is the highest of all ethnic groups at 4.6 percent.136
Pacific construction workers reiterate that their
primary concern is the limitations that these broader
socioeconomic effects place upon their ability to
contribute to the wellbeing of their family and
community.137
4.4 The Pacific Pay Gap: manufacturing
The manufacturing industry is the second-largest
employer of Pacific peoples as of June 2022,
comprising about 14 percent of the Pacific workforce
or approximately 25,700 workers.138 It is the largest
employer of Pacific men, with just over 20 percent of
Pacific men working in the sector.139 The sector is also
a significant employer of Pacific women, as 9 percent
of all Pacific women work in manufacturing.140 The
128
Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment. Pacific Peoples in the Labour Market – June 2022 Quarter, 1. https://www.
mbie.govt.nz/dmsdocument/23355-pacific-peoples-labour-market-statistics-snapshot-june-2022.
129
Itinteang, Andrew. “Pacific Workforce Indicators.” Presentation, Pacific Workforce Challenge Report Session, January 31,
2019, 6, 12. . Cochrane and Pacheco, Empirical analysis of Pacifi, Māori and ethnic pay gaps in New Zealand, Auckland: New
Zealand Research Institute, AUT, July 2022, 6.
130
E tū. E tū in 2030: Key Trends Affecting E Tū Members and Our Union. Wellington: E tū, 2021.
131
Itinteang, “Pacific Workforce Indicators,” 13.
132
Based on Household Labour Force Survey data (2021)
133
Ibid
134
Hurt-Suwan, Courtney, and Martin L. Mahler. “Social Procurement to Reduce Precarious Employment for Māori and Pasifika
Workers in the Construction Industry.” Kōtuitui: New Zealand Journal of Social Sciences Online 16, no. 1 (2021): 103, 105, 111112. See also: Chen, Mai. National Culture and its Impact on Workplace Health and Safety and Injury Prevention for Employers
and Workers. Auckland: Superdiversity Institute for Law, Policy and Business, 2019, 42. https://www.superdiversity.org/
research-reports/reports/national-culture-and-its-impact-on-workplace-health-and-safety-and-injury-prevention-foremployers-and-workers/.
135
In-work poverty refers to households that have one or more working member yet are still living in poverty. Poverty is
measured for a household as being in poverty when their monthly net equivalised income (before housing costs) is below
60% of the median income poverty line as of March 2013.
136
Plum, Alexander, and Gail Pacheco. In-work Poverty in New Zealand: A Focus on Pacific Peoples. Auckland: New Zealand Work
Research Institute, 2019, 17. https://workresearch.aut.ac.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/350654/Pacific-In-Work-PovertyReport.pdf.
137
Hurt-Suwan and Mahler, “Social Procurement,” 108; Chen, National Culture, 44-45; New Zealand Human Rights Commission,
Talanoa, 25.
138
Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment, Pacific Peoples in the Labour Market – June 2022 Quarter, 1.
139
Cochrane and Pacheco, Empirical analysis of Pacifi, Māori and ethnic pay gaps in New Zealand, Auckland: New Zealand
Research Institute, AUT, July 2022, 6.
140
Cochrane and Pacheco, Empirical analysis of Pacifi, Māori and ethnic pay gaps in New Zealand, 6.
Pacific Pay Gap Inquiry Literature Review
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