International Women’s Day
Today is International Women’s Day, a day marked in most countries of the world. This is a day for the PSA to celebrate the enormous contributions women members make to our public and community services.
International Women’s Day has a long history that goes back to 1908 when 15,000 women marched through the streets of New York demanding better pay, shorter hours and the right to vote.
Since those days, New Zealand women have made huge strides. The right to vote is taken for granted, as is the right to employment. It’s not that long since women were expected to resign when they married.
Many women in other parts of the world do not enjoy the rights we take for granted. And even in New Zealand there are many challenges to be overcome before we can say this is a country of gender equity where International Women’s Day can be truly celebrated.
Women continue to be underpaid and discriminated against in employment. Nine government departments have a gender pay gap of more than 20 percent. Most of the women who provide community-based public services are paid considerably less than a living wage.
These issues are high in the PSA’s action plans. We are part of the Living Wage campaign, we continue to work to end the gender pay gap, and we are supporting action against family violence. The PSA Women’s Network is a place to discuss and organise around the things that need to change. All PSA women are invited to join.
There is still lots to do but let’s take a moment to celebrate the gains we’ve made and the great work women do as part of the PSA.
Sector newsletter - Christmas edition
This newsletter is written and designed by PSA delegates Dale Parkes and Gwenda Nicolle, the women’s reps on the Public Service Sector. Read here.
No easy victory
“No Easy Victory” a document about the equal pay campaign is now available as an electronic text over at
the NZETC website: http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-CorNoEa.html
Women's Network: Update October 2011
Find out all the latest information and news...read more.
Constructing Workplace Democracy: Women’s Voice in New Zealand Public Services
Last year the PSA, in partnership with the Industrial Relations Centre at Victoria University, surveyed our women members, canvassing five main areas:
• Women PSA members - profiled the PSA women who participated in this research, the work that they do and the family, caring and community responsibilities that make up their lives.
• The average salary was $43,185 per annum before tax; 68% of respondents earned less than $60,000 gross per year.
• Flexibility at work - explored how much flexibility PSA women have in their jobs and how much they can shape and influence the organisation of their daily work.
• Influence at work - looked at the nature and organisation of work of PSA women and also considered their experiences of bullying and discrimination in the workplace.
• Constructing careers - provided an analysis of how PSA women are planning their careers and what managerial and organisational supports they have for career development.
• Influencing unions - considered the attitudes of PSA women to their union, and asked whether they see it as innovative and encouraging of member participation.
There was a high response rate (7,300 respondents), making this the largest dataset of New Zealand workers.
The findings will inform the PSA’s strategic planning, bargaining strategies and policy development. They have been shared with stakeholders including the Ministers of Labour, State Services and Women’s Affairs, as well as with our members, other unions and other organisations.
The full survey can be found here.
Summary of numbers can be found here..
Our media release can be found here.
Presentation from Victoria University can be found here.
Women’s network gathering
Nearly 50 delegates and members from all sectors focussed on issues such as flexible working arrangements, influence in the workplace, career progression, bullying and discrimination and pay and employment equity; as well as women’s participation in the PSA.
A 10 person committee was elected, and they will develop a workplan. The committee members are: Alison van Dyke, MSD, West Coast, Sarah Bellamy, MSD, Wellington, Carolyn Sellens, DoL-Immigration, Wellington, Mary Nettle, Stats, Shelly Rao, Quit Group, Anna Huffstutler, Healthcare NZ, Invercargill, Janet Quigley, Canterbury DHB, Timaru, Donna Morris, DoC and Heather Taylor, DoC, Northland, -shared position, Hilary Gandy, MoE, Auckland, Ariana Nixon, Otago Correction Facility, Dunedin.
Download papers and presentations from the gathering:
Pay and Employment Equity
Women's Network: Update April 2011 Find out all the latest news and issues in this April 2011 update...read now.
Suffrage Day
The 19th September 2010 will be the 117th anniversary of New Zealand women obtaining the right to vote. The right to vote, regardless of gender is called ‘suffrage, however the 19th September marks the day when the Electoral Bill granting women the vote was given the Royal Assent and NZ women voted for the first time in the election held on 28 November 1893, henceforth called ‘Women’s Suffrage Day”. Read on.
No ma'am's land PSA organiser Tanja Bristow went along to hear leadership expert Susan Vinnicombe, professor of organisational behaviour and diversity management at Britain's Cranfield University, speak about about the impact of women on boards. Here are Tanja's notes from the seminar .
For more about what's happening with PAEE see our PAEE webpage The conference also voted to support private sector unions to undertake PAEE audits. So far there have been no PAEE audits done in the private sector.