Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2007, published 97th ILC session (2008)

The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in its report, as well as the comments of the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (NZCTU) and of Business New Zealand (Business NZ) and the Government’s response thereto.

1. Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention. Equality of opportunity and treatment based on race, colour and national extraction. The Committee recalls its previous comments relating to existing labour market inequalities along ethnic lines especially for Maori and Pacific people. The Committee notes from the Government’s report that in 2005, the unemployment rate for Maori and Pacific people further declined but that they continue to be disproportionately distributed in the industry groupings of wholesale and retail trades and the occupational groupings of plant and machine operators and elementary occupations. The Committee notes that the Government is taking comprehensive measures to improve the training and employment opportunities of the Maori and Pacific people. It notes in particular the Pacific Workforce Development Strategy of the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs (MPIA), the Maori Tertiary Education Framework and the Pasifika Education Plan. It also notes the programmes of the Office of Ethnic Affairs such as the Language Line, the Ethnic Perspective in Policy and the draft Intercultural Awareness and Communication programme to support the development of intercultural awareness issues in employment and the workplace. The Committee also notes that the Tertiary Education Commission is running a number of programmes aimed at helping under-represented groups to achieve equality in employment and vocational training, which appear to have had some positive impact on the situation of Maori and Pacific people. 

2. The Committee notes, however, that the NZCTU, while welcoming the progress made in promoting training and employment opportunities for Maori and Pacific people, continues to raise concerns about existing labour market inequalities along ethnic lines. The NZCTU indicates that while the rate of Maori participation in tertiary education has grown exponentially over the past few years, the proportion of Maori students leaving school without qualifications remains much higher than other students. Maori are also more likely to enrol in diploma and certificate-level programmes and they continue to be under-represented in degree level and postgraduate programmes. The NZCTU further draws attention to the fact that young people, Maori, Pacific people and Asian workers, and sometimes new migrants, are facing prejudices by employers based on stereotyping. Surveys conducted with employment agencies showed that having a foreign sounding name could reduce the likelihood of a job applicant obtaining an interview. According to the NZCTU, there has also been an impact on New Zealand born and educated job applicants perceived as being foreign, particularly Asian and Pacific people, as well as new migrants. The NZCTU, while acknowledging that current skills and labour shortages are helping employers to focus more on the tasks required for the job, submits that more work is needed to encourage employers to look beyond their prejudices and to make better use of the untapped potential of these groups. 

3. The Committee further notes that a number of initiatives are being carried out to implement the Auckland Migrant and Refugee Strategy with a view to improving the employment situation of the migrant and refugee population. Initiatives include, among others, the appointment of specialist migrant case managers and work brokers to facilitate regular job search seminars and individualized assistance for newly arrived or underemployed migrants; an employment programme for highly qualified migrant engineers; specialized job search programmes for migrant and refugee jobseekers such as Migrant Job Link and the Auckland Chamber of Commerce Work Experience Programme for professionally qualified migrants; and support for, and expansion of, services to migrant centres across the regions. The Committee, while welcoming these initiatives, remains nevertheless concerned about the existing prejudices and stereotypical attitudes of employers vis-à-vis migrant workers and the impact of these attitudes on the employment situation of migrant workers. The Committee asks the Government: (1) to continue to provide information on the education and training initiatives, and their impact, on improving access of Maori and Pacific workers to training and education, including in degree-level and postgraduate courses, and to employment; (2) to provide information on the measures taken or envisaged to address discriminatory attitudes based on race, colour, or national extraction, including any research or awareness-raising campaigns; and (3) to indicate the specific measures taken, including under the Auckland Migrant and Refugee Strategy, to address stereotypical attitudes by employers with respect to migrant workers and to ensure that migrant workers are not discriminated against on the basis of race, colour or national extraction.

4. Equality between men and women in employment and occupation. The Committee notes from the figures for 2004 in the Government’s report that occupational gender segregation continues to be significant in New Zealand’s labour market. Men are still overrepresented in the occupational categories of legislators, administrators and managers, trades workers, agricultural and fishery workers, elementary occupations and plant and machine operators; women are over-represented in the categories of community social and personal services, clerks, professionals and service and sales workers. The Committee notes the concern raised by the NZCTU that career breaks due to childbearing and raising a family and the lack of family-friendly support in the workplace constitute barriers for women seeking to return to work at the same level and to access more senior posts. The Committee notes in this regard the activities carried out to achieve the goals set under the Action Plan for New Zealand Women of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MWA) such as the Pay and Employment Equity Plan of Action for the public sector, the Working for Families Package, the paid parental leave provisions, the work–life balance initiatives and the increased funding for Early Childhood Education. The Committee asks the Government to indicate how these measures have had an impact on improving equality between men and women in the workplace, and in particular on facilitating the return to, and reintegration in, the workforce of women with family responsibilities, as well as on addressing the occupational gender segregation in the labour market. Noting the extensive measures taken to assist workers with family responsibilities, the Committee asks the Government to indicate whether any consideration is being given to ratifying the Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention, 1981 (No. 156).

The Committee is raising other points in a request addressed directly to the Government.