The Council of Trade Unions says the status of New Zealand women workers has gone backwards during 2010.
It says the recent government announcement that the gender pay gap had narrowed by 1% from 12% to 11% is misleading.
The CTU's president, Helen Kelly, says many changes by the government, such as restricting the use of sick leave, have impacted badly on women.
She says the government's decision to close the Pay and Employment Equity unit, which was researching the pay gap, shows how much it values equity.
The Minister of Women's Affairs, Hekia Parata, says the gender pay gap has narrowed to 10.6%, according to the New Zealand Income Survey. And she says as at December last year, women made up 42% of appointments to state sector boards and committees.
