Photo: 123RF
A Wellington librarian says all library workers deserve a fair wage and the evidence backs this up.
On Friday the Public Service Association (PSA) lodged a pay equity claim for library assistants with the Employment Relations Authority, after the stalling of a claim lodged with six councils in 2019.
Wellington City librarian and union delegate Tessa Bowler said it was important to pay librarians fairly because they give so much value to the community.
"But we're being discriminated against every single day because we aren't getting the money that we deserve.
"Every day we make it so information and entertainment is accessible to everybody. We are there when you need to print out documents, or you can't figure out why your device isn't working. We're there creating story times to give children a love of libraries and a love of literacy that they can carry with them for the rest of their lives.
"We're there for the elderly, with drop-in sessions. We're there for lonely people with lots of events and activities. We're there... we are just always there for what you need. We provide so many things for the community and we deserve to see that reflected in our pay rates."
Bowler said rates for library assistants varied across the different councils, but it was likely to be around the living wage rate or just above.
She said many were struggling to make ends meet. "I do know that my co-workers with children struggle with the basics - dentists, doctors, all the stuff you need."
PSA pay equity adviser Nanette Cormack said library assistants did some of the most important work in our communities - yet they remained some of the lowest paid council employees.
"Because of the retraction of a lot of social services, library assistants are very often dealing with a lot of the social problems within our communities."
The six councils that the PSA is taking action against are Auckland, Tauranga, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin councils.
Cormack said the claim was long overdue, and it was "pretty disappointing" that it had stalled. The court action was not ideal, she said, as it would further hold up the claim, but it was a last resort.
"Our ideal would still be a negotiated settlement. [But] the councils say they disagree with some of the evidence that was jointly gathered [by the union and councils], and they also disagree with what their obligations are in the legislation, which may mean we will have to leave it for the court to decide."
Bowler said she wanted to see librarians recognised properly. "I want to see the work that we do and the effort that we put in respected by our employers and by the community. I want to see our jobs valued by our employers, the way that the evidence shows that it should be."
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