The following article was published in "The Guardian", newspaper of the Communist Party of Australia in its issue of Wednesday, June 27th, 2001. Contact address: 65 Campbell Street, Surry Hills. Sydney. 2010 Australia. Phone: (612) 9212 6855 Fax: (612) 9281 5795. CPA Central Committee: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> "The Guardian": <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Webpage: http://www.cpa.org.au> Subscription rates on request. ****************************** Comp Cave-in Even before police horses trampled picketers in front of the State Parliament last week, it was clear that a determined fight for workers' compensation rights in NSW was the only way workers and their unions were going to win. It was also clear that without a strong stand by unions, the compliant Labor Council leadership would cave-in to the Carr Labor Government over the draconian legislation. This is what has now happened. The legislation, set to pass through Parliament this week, is basically the same as that rejected by the trade union movement earlier this year. It denies most injured workers fundamental rights including the right to sue negligent employers under common law and will leave injured workers far worse off than under the present legislation. (see details page 7). The legislation slashes the amounts to be paid for specific injuries. (See page 12) In a meeting between the Carr Government and the Labor Council last Monday the Government made minor concessions and more empty promises. This is the third occasion on which the Government has made promises to the union movement. On the previous two occasions the Government breached its promises. The fact is that the legislation remains practically unaltered. Given its previous record, there is no basis to accept the new verbal commitments of Government leaders that are to be implemented after the legislation has become law. Furthermore, the Bill gives the Government the power to change the guidelines at any time by regulation without going back to Parliament. >From the very beginning the campaign of the Labor Council was half-hearted. It pulled back from taking industrial action on the basis of each round of government promises. On the most recent occasion, despite the evident anger in the community and support for something to be done, the Labor Council leadership rapidly pulled back. Very little explanatory information was distributed by the Council. The opportunity to make use of the public transport workers who won much support for the decision not to collect fares was passed up. At this stage there was massive public support for the stand of the unions. Labor Council Secretary-elect John Robinson announced in his surrender statement: "We are confronted with the reality that the Government is going to pass with the Bill and we are not going to proceed with the [proposed union industrial] campaign." Following the Labor Council cave-in a combined meeting of the ETU, CFMEU, AMWU and CEPU officials and delegates endorsed a 24-hour shut-down in the building and construction, metal manufacturing, printing, food, vehicle and power supply and generation industries: too little, too late and by too few unions. The Labor Government has implemented its plan through connivance, worthless guarantees to unions of consultation, and through Labor MPs of the "left" whose votes assured the legislation's passage. The extent of this connivance was exposed by Greens MLC Lee Rhiannon, who revealed that the Labor Council had formerly reached agreement on changes on June 15 for a version of the Bill dated June 4. "For 11 days unions thought they were in negotiations with the Government, but [Workplace Relations Minister] Della Bosca did not in truth change a single clause for that whole time", said Ms Rhiannon. The pretext for stripping injured workers of their rights is an alleged $2 billion WorkCover debt. But the major cause of any shortfall is the failure of employers to pay required premiums. In the building industry alone, 30 per cent of employers are under-insuring their workers. Seventeen business groups have backed the Carr Government's gutting of compensation: the new legislation will be a bonanza for them, giving them virtually iron-clad protection when they fail to ensure safe working conditions. In reality, the $2 billion debt is a paper deficit that may never actually have to be paid. Last year, WorkCover made a profit of $365 million. The Government's claim that savings will come from reduced legal costs is a red herring. Most savings (for employers and insurance companies) will come from cuts in compensation payments to injured workers. Furthermore, the Law Society of NSW points out that while injured workers will be the losers, legal bills only make up a fraction of the workers' compensation payout. In 1999-2000 for every $10 spent on workers' compensation, $6.08 went to injured workers, $1.22 to medical and health practitioners and $1.02 to lawyers. "Injured workers received the majority of the money, which is how it should be", says the Law Society, which proposes the replacement of the current conciliation system with arbitration, which would actually reduce costs and delays. The aim of Carr's legislation is to reduce workers' compensation insurance premiums paid by employers. The legislation does this by reducing the entitlements of sick and injured workers. There are problems with the present system but they will not be solved by the current legislation. The priorities are to make workplaces safer and healthier, and see that existing occupational health and safety regulations are enforced, workplaces policed, WorkCover adequately staffed, negligent employers punished and all employers pay their full premiums. In the long run this will not only be of benefit to the health and safety of workers, but will also save money. **************************************************************************** -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
