Latest / Best of Business / Jenee Tibshraeny: NZ Herald Wellington business editor on the pay equity issues impacting the Government

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Jenee Tibshraeny: NZ Herald Wellington business editor on the pay equity issues impacting the Government · Best of Business

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  Speaker 2: Now it looks like the government could be facing its
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  Speaker 2: own pay equity problem. There are three claims in the
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  Speaker 2: works for people who work for Plunket, Hospice and booper
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  Speaker 2: Aged Care. The trouble here is that these organizations are
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  Speaker 2: partially funded by the government and no money has been
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  Speaker 2: set aside for if these people actually win their claims.
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  Speaker 2: The New Zealand heralds Wellington Business editor Jene TIBs Trainey
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  Speaker 2: is with us on this. Hello Jine, Hey, Heather. How
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  Speaker 2: likely is it that these claims are won by these workers.
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  Speaker 3: Well, the Nurses' Union thinks that the workers face an
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  Speaker 3: uphill battle winning their claims because, as listeners will be aware,
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  Speaker 3: the government changed the pay equity regime and basically made
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  Speaker 3: it much harder for people to win their claims. But
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  Speaker 3: the concern that the union has is that if they
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  Speaker 3: do win their claims, Plunket and Hospice in particular that
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  Speaker 3: you know, heavily funded by the government. They have contracts
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  Speaker 3: with the government and if those organizations, if their wage
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  Speaker 3: bills shoot up, then how will they pay the higher wages.
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  Speaker 3: You know, will they come knocking back on the government
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  Speaker 3: store saying help us out here, or will they cut
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  Speaker 3: these services? And that's what the union is worried about.
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  Speaker 3: The government used to put money aside for these settlements,
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  Speaker 3: but it's no longer doing so. So it's only putting
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  Speaker 3: money aside to settle claims related to government workers, not
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  Speaker 3: related to people employed by charities and private businesses and
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  Speaker 3: so on that have big contracts with the crown.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, so why aren't they setting this money aside anymore?
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  Speaker 3: Well, Nikola Willis makes the point that she thought that
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  Speaker 3: it led to, in her words, far less robust negotiations
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  Speaker 3: and huge cost escalations for taxpayers. I think the other
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  Speaker 3: thing is it's quite hard for the treasury to estimate
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  Speaker 3: what cost to the government might be if you know,
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  Speaker 3: an organization that is heavily funded by the crown, if
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  Speaker 3: they you know, I guess, lose a pay equity claim.
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  Speaker 3: So the head of the Treasury said that too, and
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  Speaker 3: they said, look, if you know, the workers win their
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  Speaker 3: claims and these organizations need more money, then the government
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  Speaker 3: will consider that that on a case by case basis.
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  Speaker 3: But you know, the government is cutting its costs, and
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  Speaker 3: Barbara Edmonds from Labor for example, is a bit worried.
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  Speaker 3: You know, She's questioned the Treasury on that and said, well, really,
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  Speaker 3: you've got no money aside for these organizations. So look,
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  Speaker 3: I think it's a it's an interesting debate. Plunket is
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  Speaker 3: ninety two percent funded by the government, whereas Booper is
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  Speaker 3: about sixty percent funded by the government. So different organizations
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  Speaker 3: will be in quite different positions, you know, if their
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  Speaker 3: wage wiles go up.
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  Speaker 2: And do we have any idea of the quantum that
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  Speaker 2: we're talking about here.
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  Speaker 3: No, So that makes it it pretty tough to know
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  Speaker 3: for schoolhold.
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  Speaker 2: This is the part of the pay equity problem, right,
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  Speaker 2: is it we actually don't know how much, like, we
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  Speaker 2: don't know how much money to set aside for the stuff,
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  Speaker 2: and it could be huge.
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  Speaker 3: That's the thing. So the Treasury makes the point that
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  Speaker 3: they don't want to disclose that number because that could
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  Speaker 3: influence negotiations. You know, if the workers know that the
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  Speaker 3: government's actually put x billions aside, that you know, they
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  Speaker 3: could go in a bit harder with their negotiations. So
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  Speaker 3: that's the trouble. And I mean, maybe that's the interesting
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  Speaker 3: thing about this issue as well is that the government
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  Speaker 3: has really been pointing the finger at labor for not
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  Speaker 3: being able to say how it would get money to
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  Speaker 3: have its more gold plated pay equity scheme. But actually
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  Speaker 3: this government could also find itself in some trouble if
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  Speaker 3: these Planket Hospice booper workers win their claims. You know
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  Speaker 3: who knows how much they support, how much support they'll need.
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  Speaker 3: I think New Zealanders will will want those serve to
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  Speaker 3: continue as they are.
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  Speaker 2: Yep, too right, Hey, thank you very much, Jane, appreciate it.
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  Speaker 2: Janet tip Cherini, the heralds Wellington Business Editor.
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