Many CPSU members are concerned about the federal government's changes to workers’ compensation laws and have asked about the Labor Party’s views on these changes.
In response to questions from CPSU members, Labor leader Kevin Rudd replied:
Thank you for your letter regarding changes to the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act. As you may be aware these were debated in the Parliament last year and this year and make significant changes to:
• the definition of disease, so that employment must now make a “significant”, rather than “material”, contribution to a disease for it to be compensable;
• the definition of “injury” so as to exclude injuries arising from “reasonable administrative action taken in a reasonable manner” and expand the exclusionary provisions for stress claims to include performance appraisals and counselling in relation to performance; and
• the scope of work-related journeys so that claims for non work-related journeys and recess breaks are no longer covered, representing a significant cost shift on to state governments’ compulsory third party claims.
In all these cases, the changes have had the effect of narrowing the circumstances in which employees may claim compensation. In fact the Government’s Explanatory Memorandum to the Bill stated this was an explicit objective of the changes – noting: “the Government is seeking to significantly amend the legislation to reflect its desire to decrease the number of injuries covered by the Scheme”.
Labor opposed these changes in the Parliament because they are not in the interests of working Australians. Just like the Howard Government’s WorkChoices laws, these changes strip away the terms and conditions of our public sector work force.
These changes also come at a time when private sector firms operating in blue collar areas such as transport and construction such are being encouraged to migrate to the traditionally white collar Comcare scheme. Labor is concerned that the Howard Government is sacrificing protections for workers in order to cut its costs.
Strong protection of occupational health and safety should not be compromised. Labor believes that appropriate compensation and implementing a non-adversarial approach to injury prevention and workplace safety is essential.
Further to Labor’s commitment at National Conference, Labor will be developing its workplace health and safety policy and will be making announcements on this issue in the future.
Kind regards,
Kevin Rudd
Federal Labor Leader
Member for Griffith
14 comments:
Good on Kevin Rudd and the ALP. They know this law sucks and are committed to doing something about it. Who cares about strip bars in New York? These are real issues affecting Australian workers.
Nice spin Kevin. Just say you will reinstate the protections public service workers enjoyed before and you get my vote.
So.....will the amendments be repealed or not?
"Labor believes that appropriate compensation...is essential.
Labor will be developing it's workplace health and safety policy and ..making announcements on this issue in the future."
None of that sounds like reverting to the full coverage the PS has lost. What is "appropriate compensation" so far as Mr. Rudd is concerned. If it is full coverage as before that is easy to say so. Three months from an election you might think the ALP had a policy on workplace health and safety.
You will have my vote if you reinstate the workers compensation laws as they were before the Liberals changed them and if you can clean up the mess the Liberals have made of the Industrial Relations Laws
I agree with the 4 out of 5 comments so far....
What is Labor going to do about the draconian measures introduced by Howard & Co
it is hard to believe labor do not have a policy on workplace health & safety so close to an election.
It costs me $4000 a year premium for income protection to (roughly) match my lost journey workers' comp. That's because, twenty odd years on, I am not the self-employed lawyer who had his own cover when joining the public service. When we stop pooling our risk, and looking after the harm people suffer, and instead let individuals worry about their individual risk, the cost goes up enormously - it isn't just shifted from the employer to the employees.
It does not sound that Mr Rudd is going to restore the full coverage of H&S the workers we had lost! He speaks in general form e.g "appropriate compensation". rather committing ALP to the specific lost H&S covers. It seems he is trying to buy time and avoid commitment to the fundamental issues affecting workers' rights. It should not be too hard for Mr Rudd to say 'full coverage as before'. Surprisingly, three months from an election you might think the ALP had a policy on workplace health and safety. You may miss my vote if you do not come up clearer and sooner on worker issues!
Many public servants are responsible for delivering unpalatable messages. There are many people who are not in their right minds and Centrelink staff in particular have been attacked outside their workplace after hours as they head home. DIaC staff are also potential targets. AFP could easily become a target catching the bus home after work.
The Labor Party should commit itself to being a responsible employer which recognises that the small amount extra in ComCare is well worth the effort.
I must say nice spin. Mr RUDD you have got to do a little better then this.
Not only do you need to reinstate the Workers comp scheme but you need to revisit the private inclusion into the Comcare coverage. Private Industry needs to be returned to the State insurance coverage.
What exactly does this response mean?.
Quoting back legislation is great, but we already know this. Like the other respondents, reverse this aburd legislation and you'll get my vote.
If the ALP isn't promising to restore our lost compo coverage now, our chances after the election are pretty poor. Our only recourse is to build the labour movement generally and CPSU in particular. By becoming stronger in ourselves, we can create facts on the ground with which all politicians have to deal as realities.
For those few - me included - currently fighting serious misconduct by senior management in the GST business line of the ATO whatever Kev says is too little, too late.
Annette of Canberra said -
I am currently on the extreme receiving end of these changes. But, to cut to the chase and where I am currently in the process - Having been 'allowed' by my GP (whom I begged) to return to work for only four hours per day, the Australia Government Department I work for has placed my in a kind of isolation situation, where I work at a desk with a computer and a phone, but away from any real work area and with no real work(and I am to look for alternative paid work). This Department has refused for me to return to legitimate work in my previous area, stating that my illness and injury has 'caused to many problems to too many people'. I have also been refused legimate work elsewhere in this Department. All because I collapsed at work in May as a result of not being able to manage my current work injury and could not manage to work with the attitude of supervisory personnel.
Ausgust 29 2007
Post a Comment