Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner Saunoamaali’i Karanina Sumeo at an In-Work poverty seminar in
Wellington. In November 2019 the Commission published the In-work Poverty in New Zealand report which found that
more than 50,000 working households live in poverty. Research was conducted by AUT New Zealand Work Research
Institute and commissioned by the Human Rights Commission (From left: Sue O’Shea, Mari North, Michelle TroupCallinan, Saunoamaali’i Karanina Sumeo and Nia Bartley).
The Commission’s campaign is in four phases:
• June 2019: Phase 1: Building an alliance
building with unions, women’s groups, MPs,
plus evidence gathering
• August 2019: Phase 2: Campaign launch with
personal stories of pay discrimination
• October 2019 – March 2020: Phase 3: Identify
champions among big employers, business
associations, unions, media, and promote good
practice to businesses
Our research also found that more than 60
percent of Kiwis wanted pay scales to be
advertised with the job. A further 80 percent
rejected pay discrimination based on ethnicity and
sex. Those most vulnerable to pay discrimination
were women, Pacific people, those aged 18-24,
new migrants, and workers earning less than
$80,000.
Replacing pay secrecy with pay transparency will
help everyone especially our most vulnerable.
• July 2020: Phase 4: Research on pay
transparency and unequal pay, media
engagement, ongoing advocacy and alliance
building
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