With this victory secured, this crucial group of health workers turned their attention to the next challenge on the horizon: Pay Equity. With around 15,000 members in over 70 different professions, the APHST Pay Equity claim has the potential to be one of the most complex Pay Equity processes the PSA will undertake. However, thanks to the incredible momentum, enthusiasm and emerging generation of new union leaders from the We Are Allied campaign, these members were in an excellent position to rise to the challenge.
Pay Equity can be hard to understand. It represents a paradigm shift in the way members think about the value of their work and the structure of their pay. That’s why our approach to this Pay Equity claim is deeply rooted in the importance of education, as well as continuing our journey to empower APHST workers to take their industrial rights into their own hands.
In September and October 2022 we embarked on an Allied Pay Equity training roadshow. Over the course of two months our Pay Equity team visited eight cities around New Zealand and conducted 11 different training days – resulting in the recruitment of over 200 member Pay Equity Advocates.
Advocates mainly consisted of a new generation of member leaders who emerged over the course of the
We Are Allied campaign, as well as a number of committed PSA Delegates. The training sessions also produced about 20 new PSA Delegates, as Allied Health members stepped up to the next stage of their union journey.
Advocates participated in sessions about:
- The history of the union movement and Pay Equity.
- The concepts, definitions and processes that underpin a Pay Equity claim.
- Pay Equity growth strategies.
- The PSA’s campaign to deliver Pay Equity.
With over 200 trained and empowered Pay Equity experts embedded in workplaces across the country, we are now in a great position to deliver Pay Equity to an energised Allied Health workforce. Our team is exploring how similar training structures can be rolled out across other Pay Equity claims – so watch this space!
Kia pai te rā,
The PSA Allied, Public Health, Scientific and Technical Pay Equity team.
The Allied, Public Health, Scientific and Technical professions consist of around 15,000 health workers in over 70 different professions. Over 11,000 are members of the PSA. Significant professional groups include Social
Workers, Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, Laboratory Scientists, Pharmacists and Sterile Sciences Technicians.