The Green Party supports five major unions taking the Government to the High Court over its changes to pay equity laws.
"Working women deserve to be paid what is fair, and they deserve so much better than this Government," says the Green Party's spokesperson for Women, Kahurangi Carter.
"We can and must ensure that women are paid fairly. Workers should be valued and treated as equals, regardless of gender, ethnicity or age.
"Unions have rightly highlighted where the Government's pay equity changes have breached fundamental rights, including freedom from gender-based pay discrimination, the right to natural justice, and the right to fair legal process.
"We support this action from our unions and we support pay equity.
"The gender pay gap is something we should all be ashamed of. Instead of doing something about it, this Government chose to make it worse with its pay equity changes which avoided proper scrutiny and consultation.
"Balancing the Budget on the backs of underpaid women is wrong. Abusing parliamentary process to avoid scrutiny is also wrong.
"This move to undo years of pay equity progress was a monumental step backwards from the Government, undoing long and dedicated work by countless New Zealanders towards a fairer pay system, a system this Government wants to undermine," says Kahurangi Carter.
