CTU Wrong on Aged Residential Care Contracts

MEDIA RELEASE

22 July 2007

CTU Wrong on Aged Residential Care Contract Negotiations

Aged care providers expressed disappointment over the latest statement made by the CTU regarding the current dispute over aged care funding (http://www.ctu.org.nz/news/876.html)

“The statement made by Ross Wilson that unions “agreed with DHBs and employers on a two stage strategy in February and the DHB requirement will merely provide for collective agreements as vehicles for this work” is wrong”, said Martin Taylor, CEO of HealthCare Providers NZ.

“There was no meeting between employer representatives and Unions in February. Mr Wilson should say who the employers he met with were, when he met with them, what mandate they had from the sector, and what was agreed”.

Mr Taylor said, “Clearly, if the Government and DHBs had met with provider representatives in the first place, then in all likelihood, we would have worked through the issues and have no need of a judicial review. However, in reality, the deal imposed on the sector was arranged in secret behind closed doors between the unions, government and DHBs”.

“Mr Wilson also criticised HealthCare Providers NZ for not having any constructive ideas. This is incorrect. Provider representatives proposed passing on the funding tagged for caregiver wages, and being audited on compliance.”

“Furthermore, in terms of trying to bring long term sustainability to the sector, provider representatives proposed to work with DHBs to establish what component of the daily fee covers wages and what component covers capital costs. Both these ideas were rejected”.

“We can understand how Mr Wilson was not aware of these ideas as the CTU, and indeed all unions, are not part of the negotiations. The negotiations are between provider representatives and DHBs representatives – a fact which seems to have been forgotten” said Mr Taylor.

“What this debate needs is some facts, not mantras which cannot be supported such as the statement that DHB proposals have employers backing. One indisputable fact is the sector’s good record of passing on funding increases to workers. Last year caregiver wages rose on average 4.7% and nurse wages by 6.7%, which was in line with the 3% inflation increase given to rest homes and the 5.9% given to geriatric hospitals,” said Mr Taylor.

“We have been forced to take a judicial review, as the DHB proposals are not part of any other contract between a government agency and the private sector. As such, they need to be tested by an impartial third party to see if they are lawful. Surely, it is in the best interests of all parties to clarify the law” said Taylor.

ENDS

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