Care and support workers need to be compensated fairly and respected for the vital job they do, says PSA delegate and disability support worker Pinky Kumawat.
Hundreds of people came together across the country on Monday 1 July at rallies calling on the Government to fully fund a pay equity settlement for care and support workers.
The three care and support unions, PSA, E tū and NZNO, organised the rallies in Auckland, Hamilton, Palmerston North, Wellington, Nelson, Christchurch, Dunedin, and Invercargill.
PSA delegate and disability support worker Pinky Kumawat spoke at the Auckland rally, on a wet, blustery day, her words reflecting the frustration felt by care and support workers across the motu.
"Imagine a world where our work is truly valued, where our contributions are fairly compensated. This isn't just a dream; it's a demand for justice."
Care and support workers work with a range of people with differing support needs, including but not limited to those with disabilities, acute and/or chronic conditions, injury, mental illness, or addictions. The work of a care and support worker is very complex, and the skills the job requires are extensive and comprehensive.
Pinky works alongside autistic people who have complex needs, who express “challenging behaviours” in response to stress triggers. Pinky’s job centres around supporting her clients to mitigate and manage these triggers.
Despite care and support work being historically undervalued and underpaid, Pinky finds pockets of joy in her everyday work. What motivates her most is seeing her clients progress every day.
“What I love most about my work is the adrenaline rush of knowing you’ve achieved a goal with your client. The feeling of success, when you see how they’ve grown, and how you can reflect on their progress over the time you’ve been working with them.”
Despite her work being invaluable, Pinky works two jobs to maintain financial security and ensure a good quality of life for her and her whānau. This situation is often echoed across the sector.
“I’m a huge workaholic, I work two jobs. I’ve taken on two jobs to manage our finances and have a good quality of life. If I get any spare time, I like to read and walk.”
While fighting for pay equity is a priority, Pinky cares most about ensuring care and support workers get the respect, dignity and value that they deserve – as care and support work is often invisible to the public.
“People think that disability support work is only making meals, vacuuming, or doing personal care. That’s one small portion of our work. The major work is how you work around triggers and behaviours, how to ensure [the people we support] are safe. The 95% of what we do is supporting people to become more independent and able to participate in their communities. We are constantly having to make judgment calls.”
Pinky started in disability support work during her time studying Psychology.
“I basically stumbled upon it, honestly. There were interns [in the Psychology department] that worked with autistic people with higher support needs. What interested me was more than the theoretical. A lot of our books didn’t cover how to work with people – just what their behaviours could look like.”
The nature of the work has intensified since Pinky started working in the sector, but the value, respect and remuneration of the work has remained the same.
“We are expected to do so much more but the pay stays low and we are not properly paid for the work we do, the government needs to invest in the care and support sector.”
Because funding for the sector has been either cut or allowed to run out by successive governments, care and support workers must find workarounds to ensure their clients have the best quality of life.
“We’re short on funding, so now, the responsibility falls on support workers to creatively get resources for our clients.”
“If the sector was fully funded, it would mean tangata whaiora, the people we support, would have more facilities, more scope for growth, more scope of achieving their goals – because they’ll have the resources they need. Because funding is being reduced or not replaced, a lot of people are having to wait for support,” Pinky says.
Care and support workers achieving pay equity, and the liberation of the disability community, are struggles in Aotearoa New Zealand that are interlinked and inseparable. When our workers thrive, our people thrive, and vice versa.
“When funding isn’t given, both sides of the equation are harmed,” Pinky says.
It’s been over two years since the care and support pay equity claim was initiated, and no settlement has been reached. In the meantime, care and support workers remain under paid and undervalued while delivering essential care to thousands of New Zealanders.
