Wall LouisaLOUISA WALL (Labour—Manurewa): Tēnā koe Mr Chair. Thank you very much for the opportunity to contribute in this Committee stage debate on the Care and Support Workers (Pay Equity) Settlement Bill. I have got two specific issues that I would like some clarification on please.The first is in relation to Jan Logie's tabled amendment. I see this amendment to some degree as an insurance policy because in fact I think that within the Care and Support Workers (Pay Equity) Settlement Agreement it is included. From my perspective it is included on page 8: Good faith"—10. If you look at footnote No. 38 it says: "The intent is that good faith has a similar meaning to section 4 of the Employment Relations Act 2000". The Employment Relations Act 2000 section 4(1)(a) says: "must deal with each other in good faith; and (b) … must not whether directly or indirectly do anything—(i) to mislead or deceive each other; or (ii) that is likely to mislead or deceive each other." I think it would be an incredible deception if through the passage of this bill the employers then have an ability to reduce the hours of the workers.So I want confirmation from the Government that if it is not going to vote for Jan Logie's amendment that that in fact is the case. It will be a breach of the agreement if after this legislation goes through our care and support workers are going to lose hours. That would completely negate the effectiveness of this agreement and of this piece of legislation. I think that as an insurance policy however it is good to have to be really clear that that is our expectation as a Parliament. So I want to congratulate my colleague Jan Logie on her amendment. It would be much better if it had been sorted by the Health Committee and if it needed clarification it was in the Minister's Supplementary Order Paper 324. But given it has not been and given my reading of the agreement I want confirmation that that is the case. So that is the first point.The second point actually is about something that my colleague Poto Williams spoke about earlier. It is in relation to clause 4 "Interpretation" under "care and support worker"—subclause (a)(ii)—which is actually about those "whose work for that employer primarily involves providing care and support services;". I think when we look at the vocation of what a care and support worker does it is really good to actually look at what our care and support workers do. So I want to acknowledge our E tū whānau who are up in the gallery today and particularly Kristine Bartlett because actually what they do is incredibly important. They help clients with tasks such as showering and dressing. They do housework such as cleaning and ironing. They do prepare and serve meals. They do clean and prepare medical equipment and instruments. They do take patients' ECG readings samples and fluid balances. They do help patients with rehabilitation in areas such as social skills and walking. They do transfer patients between wards and departments using wheelchairs stretchers or movable beds. They do deliver and collect patient files and X-rays. They do linen rubbish infectious wastes and specimens. That is the scope of the particular vocation that we are speaking about today.I want to really highlight the skills that are required to do it because fundamental to the work that our care and support workers do is that they have to care actually. They have to care about the people whom they are caring for. Who are they? They are the elderly they are families children and sometimes they are people with disabilities. We would say that they are the most vulnerable members of our society. These are the people whom we entrust into the care of our care and support workers and I want to acknowledge that because I do not think just anybody could do this work.I also want to focus on the working conditions. Our care and support workers are shift workers including working evenings and weekends. They usually work in clients' homes and in hospitals clinics rest homes and nursing homes. They may travel to their clients' homes. They may be required to lift and move patients and to do housework. They can be on their feet for most of the day. They may be exposed to diseases and come into contact with bodily fluids. So I think this type of work is incredibly valuable and we should all know what the work is that this bill is rewarding finally.That is why I have taken the time to read through what this piece of legislation is really about. It is about valuing that work—valuing the work that our women have done—and I want to particularly highlight the woman whom this case was based on actually. She is a woman called Kristine Bartlett who for 24 years worked at the Riverleigh rest home in Lower Hutt. She is now 68 years of age and she has got children and grandchildren. She was employed by TerraNova Homes and Care. I want to state on the record that when this journey began 5 years ago Kristine Bartlett was paid $14.46 an hour.I also want to acknowledge that for Kristine the real heroes in this fight are the E tū union workers who are her colleagues. They are those who toil tirelessly to prepare a path for other female-dominated industries to challenge their wage rates on the basis that they would be paid more if their workforce were dominated by men.So I want to acknowledge that work because it takes a lot of courage to fight battles like this. It has taken 5 years. You know that is a lot of commitment. That is a lot of dedication. That is also a lot of passion not for herself actually but for the next generation of care and support workers and that is what I want to acknowledge the most. This is paving the way and creating a legacy and a value for the people whom we need to be passionate. We need people to care about our disabled our elderly and those who are the most vulnerable in our community. We do not want just anybody looking after our whānau. We need special people and those special people are our care and support workers.Just in conclusion as a proud member of E tū I had an opportunity to walk in someone else's shoes. My person was Mele. She worked at the Bupa Hayman care and rest home in Wiri in Manurewa and all of those things that I read out before such as helping clients with tasks such as showering—she did that. Making beds—she did that. Actually to be honest Mele did most of the work because a lot of what I had to do was feed our whānau. She would wash them put their clothes on and change their beds and my job was to give a couple of the clients porridge. But I have got to say that she did not stop. She was on her feet constantly. The one thing that struck me about Mele and the work that she and her colleagues do was that it was about their commitment—their commitment to that job. Every day they were caring for 12 clients in the most intimate of ways and actually loving them.So on behalf of all of us who have family in our rest homes and in these facilities where we rely on our care and support workers I just want to say thank you. I hope today goes some way towards our acknowledging how much you are valued and respected in society and also the value that you place on this vocation for others to come in the future. Kia ora."