Mental health workers need to be paid fairly so that droves of people don’t leave the sector while it is in crisis, the Green Party said today. “The Government needs to act quickly to ensure that mental health workers are being paid fairly, otherwise essential staff will choose to leave to work in better paid sectors,” Green Party social development spokesperson Jan Logie said. “Mental health work is a female dominated industry  but that is no excuse to continue underpaying...

The Government’s plan to send 14-17 year-olds to an army boot camp is heartless and illogical, the Green Party said today. National announced yesterday that it would send young offenders to an army-organised training camp in Waiouru, with the threat of adult prison if they do not complete the course. “National need to own up to the fact that society has failed these children, and punishing them further by sending them far from their family and their community will not...

The Green Party has announced today that it will make public sector chief executives responsible for achieving pay equity for employees of core Government departments within its first term in Government. The Green Party will make gender pay balance a performance expectation for each chief executive across the core state sector. Green Party MP Jan Logie announced the move at a Pay Equity Coalition rally in Auckland today.  “Women have been underpaid and undervalued for too long. The Green Party...

The National Government continues to punish beneficiaries and their children by enforcing benefit sanctions, the Green Party said today. The Government’s latest figures show an 8.2 percent increase in benefit sanctions than this time last year. “Benefit sanctions punish families who are already struggling to get by, and punish them by pushing them further into poverty,” Green Party social development Jan Logie said. “These are not the actions of a decent and compassionate government – benefit sanctions are punitive and...

The Government should step up to ensure mental health support workers are paid more, the Green Party said today.  “Mental health support workers do important and difficult work in our communities. But because the workforce is largely female, they are not paid enough,' said Green Party women’s spokesperson Jan Logie.  The PSA and E Tū unions have lodged an equal pay claim on behalf of mental health support workers, following the historic care and support equal pay settlement, which didn’t...

The Children’s Commissioner’s third State of Care report paints a damning picture of the treatment of children placed in state care, the Green Party said today. “The report shows that some children in secure residences are not safe and the conditions have been described as prison-like. We also know that the Government has pulled back monitoring of how many children are currently being abused in state care,” said Green Party social development spokesperson Jan Logie. “Taken together, it’s clear there...

Women have been denied the opportunity to know when they are being underpaid, by a Government that is not prioritising women’s issues, the Green Party said today. “When the Government voted against my bill this evening, they denied women the right to know if they are being underpaid in the workplace,” Green Party women’s spokesperson Jan Logie said. “My member’s bill would have had employers adding gender to their payroll reporting requirements, and allowed employees access to that aggregated information...

MPs have the opportunity to support women being paid what they’re worth by voting for Jan Logie’s Equal Pay Amendment Bill in Parliament tonight, the Green Party said. The Bill would get employers to add gender as a payroll reporting requirement and allow employees to request access to this information to ensure that they are being paid fairly. “It’s wrong that women are still earning so much less than men in 2017, and I want each MP to ask themselves...

The ‘secure care’ that children are experiencing whilst in Oranga Tamariki custody is barbaric and must stop immediately, the Green Party said today. The widespread use of seclusion and restraint practices on children, mentally ill people, and other adults across New Zealand’s detention facilities is highlighted in a United Nations-funded report released today, ordered by the Human Rights Commission. Over the six months that the report looked into, 20 children aged between 11 and 15 in Care and Protection residences...

A draft National Party Bill will put more barriers in the way of women seeking to be paid fairly, the Green Party said today. “This Bill will scrap the Equal Pay Act and in effect overturn the Terranova court ruling. That ruling established the right to look outside of the affected industry for a comparable job”, says Green Party women’s spokesperson Jan Logie. “This means it will be harder for women to make a case for the gendered underpayment of...