The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi has welcomed a Green Party commitment to restore pay equity and fund a settlement for around 65,000 care and support workers.
NZCTU Secretary Melissa Ansell-Bridges says the workers, predominantly women, had already spent years establishing that their work was undervalued before the Government changed the Equal Pay Act in 2025. The changes cancelled existing pay equity claims and introduced new requirements for bringing claims. NZCTU has strongly opposed those changes.
The Greens’ proposal would recognise the undervaluation already established through the previous care and support workers’ claim and, according to the NZCTU, provide around $1.1 billion annually to fund a settlement. The party would also legislate if required to enable an agreement to proceed.
A final settlement would be negotiated with workers and their unions, including E tū, the New Zealand Nurses Organisation and the Public Service Association, rather than setting individual pay rates through the election policy.
The announcement follows Labour’s commitment this week to restore the previous pay equity system within its first 100 days in government and prioritise care and support workers for a settlement.
The issue is now becoming a significant point of difference in the election campaign. Unions argue the 2025 changes removed an established pathway for addressing the historic undervaluation of female-dominated occupations, while the Government said its reforms were needed to make the pay equity system more workable and financially sustainable.
With thousands of workers providing home, disability and aged-care support across Aotearoa, the debate now turns to how competing parties would fund pay equity and what system will operate after the November 7 election.
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