Pay equity - what pay equity?

National has decided to abolish the Department of Labour’s Pay and Employment Equity Unit.

Well whoop-de-do.What did it achieve apart from keeping a few people in work?

Well, in the public sector.

Women's pay is still way behind, much of it in the private sector. Now had the unit, under Labour, stopped writing reports, desisted on evaluations of policy that didn't actually do anything substantive, disbanded irrelevant committees and cancelled conferences and gossip-fests - which of course did not lead to substantive pay equity progress, we may have got somewhere. Had they actually did something about pay equity.

Well, in the public sector.

May I add that pay equity is not closing a 14 percent gap between males and females wages to a smaller gap. Yet had that gap reduced to say six percent, those concerned would have no doubt got a fat tax-payer funded pay bonus for delivering on, um, pay equity.

At least those who get made redundant will have pay equity of sorts - as the benefit for both males and females is the same. So you could say that the Government is starting to deliver on pay equity by making a lot of people unemployed.

Well, those who work in the public sector.