Workers' News

FEBRUARY 2000 VOL. 01 NO. 02
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"WORKERS' NEWS" IS EDITED FOR LABOUR ACTIVISTS IN THE ASIA / PACIFIC REGION.
A MONTHLY BULLETIN ABOUT SELECTED LABOUR ISSUES IN AOTEAROA / NEW ZEALAND.

WORKERS' NEWS  PO BOX 13-367  WELLINGTON  AOTEAROA / NZ  FAX: +64 4 973-6372   E-MAIL:

Bank worker demands apology from MP

     A Wellington bank worker is demanding an apology from an opposition National Party Member of Parliament. The bank worker had been speaking at the Parliamentary select committee on the new Accident Insurance legislation.
     The worker told the Parliamentary committee of how she had been refuse insurance cover for a workplace injury and about the dispute with the insurance company that resulted. She said the MP "bullied" her by the way in which he had questioned her.
     When the worker had asked the MP to clarify a question he replied to her :"You obviously don't have the intelligence to understand the question".
     "He gave me quite a hard time - I felt bullied" the bank worker said later.
     The general secretary of the bank worker's union said that the MP's behaviour was an abuse of Parliamentary privilege and of the democratic process.

Workplace injury insurance - news media reports "not the full picture"

     The news media has presented the picture that submissions to the Parliamentary select committee studying the return to a public, single funded accident compensation system have been overwhelmingly in favour of retaining private insurance.

Apart from unions there is no one much to speak for the public.

The employers say the new system is cheaper for them, which it may well be in the early stages when insurers are in the wooing phase.

However the Department of Labour suggests the savings may be limited to companies with more than 100 employers - smaller employers appear to be paying more.

The New Zealand Doctor reports that claims for accident compensation have fallen 23% since July 1 last year (when private companies entered the workplace injury insurance "market"). Doctors also report that employers are asking for accidents to be filed as non-work related, so employer can avoid premium increases.

- extract from a Sunday Star Times columnist's feature article.

Union stops "safety incentive scheme"

A union has successfully stopped a "safety incentive scheme" that gave workers $NZ400 ($US200) if they did not report any workplace injuries.

Engineers Printing and Manufacturing Union leaders told the Parliamentary select committee on the new law (to reverse the privatisation of workplace insurance) of the plan by a Dunedin company to help reduce workplace accidents.

The company said it would credit workers $NZ400.00 at the start of the year and if the worker suffered an accident he or she would lose the credit.

A union member said the scheme would have provided an incentive for workers not to report workplace injuries.

The union told the Parliamentary committee that the union was successful in stopping the scheme, saying that it had very little to do with injury prevention.

The union also said that "far more" incentive schemes had arisen since private insurance companies had entered the accident compensation market.

Increase in minimum wage next month

The adult minimum wage will increase next month from $NZ7.50 to $NZ7.55 an hour ($US3.75). The youth minimum wage (for 16 to 19 year olds) will move from $NZ4.20 to $NZ4.55 an hour ($US2.25).

The Labour Department had advised the Government of an estimated 2500 job losses and lost opportunities for young people following any increase in the minimum wage. The Department had issued its paper two days before last November's election which brought in the new Labour/Alliance coalition Government.

The Employers Federation had also advised the Government last year not to increase the minimum wage because it was concerned about the impact on jobs.

Labour Minister Margaret Wilson said that the benefits associated with an increase in the minimum wage out-weighed the potential risks.

     Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson said that the Labour Department estimate was "absolute nonsense". He said that international research did not show a link between minimum wage increases and job losses.

Private workplace injury insurance:    increase in workplace fatalities?
     Private insurance companies claimed that workplace fatalities decreased 50% in the first six-month period of private company involvement in workplace injury insurance.
     However Labour Department figures show that while there were 17 fatalities in the previous year's six-month period before privatisation, there were 27 workplace fatalities during the six-month period to December 1999 (under private insurance companies). An increase of 50% in workplace fatalities.

          Source material for this issue of the "Workers' News" includes:  The Evening Post, The Dominion and the Sunday Star Times.
     Further information about these news stories can be requested from "WORKERS' NEWS" (as above).