The government says its Accessibility for New Zealanders Bill which is now before a select committee will remove significant barriers for people with disabilities living independently.
The Council of Trade Unions, on the other hand, says that in its current form it will probably not lead to much else other than the creation of yet another task force.
The CTU thinks it needs to be significantly strengthened, not least when it comes to workers with disabilities.
The organisation's Workers with Disabilities group convenor Linsey Higgins spoke to Māni Dunlop.
Interview transcription:
Māni Dunlop: The government says its accessibility for New Zealanders Bill, which is now before a select committee, will remove significant barriers for people with disabilities living independently.
The Council of Trade Unions on the other hand says that in its current form it will probably not lead to much else other than the creation of yet another task force.
The CTU thinks it needs to be significantly strengthened, not least when it comes to workers with disabilities.
Linsey Higgins, who's one of the conveners of the organisation's workers with disabilities groups group, joins us now.
Mōrena Lindsay.
Linsey Higgins: Mōrena Māni.
Dunlop: Tell us, what does this bill need for CTU to be happy with it?
Higgins: For us, looking for something that actually works towards our commitments for the United Nations Conventions for the Rights of People with Disabilities.
At the moment we feel that the committee will not deliver on the proposed aims to actually ensure that there is access for people who are New Zealanders regardless of whether they're disabled or not.
Dunlop: Specifically, what does it need to change?
Higgins: What we would be looking for is some sort of regulator. We would be anticipating that actually, because we know that there is ongoing and pervasive ableism in our society, in our government structures and our legislature, that actually we need someone to look at those and to actually push those organisations to change to be more accommodating to disabled people.
Dunlop: Does that mean making big companies more conscious about who they're hiring or how they're hiring them?
Higgins: I think that is something that companies should always look at. They should be considering whether they are applying unbiased recruitment processes to make sure that they are getting people who have a range of lived experiences, including disabled workers who we know are left out of the workforce, but also are actively discriminated on because we have legislation which allows employers to pay workers who are disabled less than the minimum wage.
Dunlop: How much less? And how do they do that?
Higgins: So, the employer will apply to the Labour Inspectorate, there is a variation on what is paid to workers because the employer can choose. We know that the lowest in New Zealand is a $1.25 an hour and the median is $4.54 an hour.
Dunlop: How common are you seeing that that wage?
Higgins: So, we know, because the Labour Inspectorate collect this information, we know that there are 167 workers as of October last year who are affected by this legislation.
Dunlop: This legislation has been described as an empty piece of law, would you agree?
Higgins: The accessibility for New Zealanders, yes. We feel that there have been committees like this before. We're not sure why we need legislation to form a committee.
We had really high hopes about this legislation we knew that expertise had been bought in from places like Canada to try and reflect models or disability legislation from places like Canada and America, we haven't seen that and it's really underwhelming and disappointing and it's another disappointment being a disabled person.
Dunlop: Where to from here?
Higgins: Good question. We will keep pushing for our core issues including making sure the Minimum Wage Exemption Act is repealed, because it is abhorrent.
Dunlop: That is Lindsay Higgins one of the conveners of the CTU's workers with disabilities group.
