Pay Equity Coalition media release

18 February 2010

The Pay Equity Coalition is supporting international Red Bag Day on Thursday 18^th February.

Up and down the country today, volunteers from the New Zealand Federation of Business and Professional Women (BPWNZ) will out and about talking with communities and selling red bags to draw attention to the pay gap between women and men. Red Bag Day follows on from similar events in Australia, the United States and Germany.

“In New Zealand there is a 12% gender pay gap per hour, but in some workplaces the pay gap is as great as 35%” says Pay Equity Coalition Spokesperson, Angela McLeod.

“The gender pay gap is cutting family incomes, pensions, investments and tax revenue and reducing productivity.

“Women are more likely to work part time and in poorly paid industries and women sill significant restrictions on their career opportunities.

“A gender pay gap is neither economically sensible nor socially justifiable,” says McLeod. “Women are no longer prepared to accept this basic unfairness and the Government must show leadership and articulate its strategy to reduce the gender pay gap”.

NOTE TO EDITORS

The members of the Pay Equity Coalition are Women’s Studies Association; New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations (NZUSA); New Zealand Federation of Business and Professional Women; Workplace Wellbeing Project; Working Women’s Resource Centre; National Network of Stopping Violence Services; Coalition for Equal Value for Equal Pay (CEVEP); Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG); Rural Women NZ; Zonta Club of Mana; NZ Council of Trade Unions (CTU); Public Service Association ( PSA); NZ Educational Institute (NZEI); Post Primary Teachers Association ( PPTA); NZ Nurses Organisation (NZNO); Tertiary Education Union (TEU); Engineering Printing & Manufacturing Union (EPMU); Service & Food Workers Union ( SFWU); National Distribution Union (NDU); Dairy Workers Union”  (DWU); Finsec; Unite; Maritime Union of NZ (MUNZ); Meat Workers Union (MWU); Corrections Association of New Zealand.