Open Letter to Carl Bates MP

Tēnā koe Carl Bates MP,

We, your constituents (undersigned), are deeply concerned about the coalition government’s decision to amend the Equal Pay Act 2020 under urgency in May this year. These changes stripped over 180,000 workers in health, education, and care sectors of their active pay equity claims. With no public consultation, the government has undermined decades of progress towards fairness for women, Māori, Pacific, disabled, and low-paid workers — those who keep our communities alive.

Whanganui has a proud tradition of standing up for justice and dignity. It was here that our community stood at Pākaitore, and more recently where people have rallied to defend fairness and human rights. We are calling on you, as our local representative, to honour that tradition. While you were one of only two National MPs to speak in favour of this bill, we now ask you to listen to your constituents who are standing against it.

The amended law has dismantled key protections of the celebrated Equal Pay Act 2020. Among other things, it has:

• Raised the threshold for claims, excluding whole groups of workers like teachers and social workers from even beginning a pay equity process.

• Restricted the use of comparators, making it harder for women in undervalued sectors to demonstrate that their work is of equal value to male-dominated roles.

• Given employers new power to walk away from negotiations without penalty, leaving workers stranded after years of effort.

• Weakened potential outcomes, so even if a claim somehow succeeds, the resulting pay correction will almost certainly be smaller than under the original law.

These are only some of the most damaging provisions — together, they create barriers at every stage: starting a claim, proving it, negotiating it, and receiving fair outcomes.

All of this has been done to free up money to fund the government’s promised tax cuts — cuts which overwhelmingly benefit the wealthy, while being paid for by the women who staff our schools, hospitals, aged care facilities, and disability services. This is a shameful choice.

We are asking you to:

• Publicly indicate your support for repealing the Equal Pay Amendment Bill.

• Tell your caucus that Whanganui constituents reject this rollback of women’s rights, and urge them to support repeal.

• Commit to voting in favour of repeal when the opportunity arises.

Standing up for the women who educate our children, care for our sick and elderly, and support our most vulnerable is a matter of conscience.

We, the undersigned constituents, urge you to stand on the right side of history and do everything in your power to reverse this harmful legislation. Justice for working women is not optional — it is fundamental to the values we share as a community and as a country.

Ngā mihi,

The Whanganui Community