CTU peddles falsehoods to cover-up loss

MEDIA RELEASE
10 December 2007

CTU peddles falsehoods to cover-up loss

The Council of Trade Unions is continuing to peddle falsehoods as a means of diverting their members’ attention from a recent High Court decision. The CTU says it lost on a technicality and that the court case was about funding.

On Friday 7 December, the High Court in Wellington ruled in favour of providers of aged care who took judicial review proceedings against District Health Boards for inserting collective agreement and passing-on clauses in service agreements.

“Attack is not always the best form of defence. The CTU’s spin is mesmerisingly shallow and demonstrates that they are up to their elbows in this mess,” says HealthCare Providers’ chief executive Martin Taylor.

The CTU continues to assert that providers of aged residential care have not passed on funding specifically allocated to workers. Such claims are not true. “Providers passed on all of the money specified for workers and have agreed to be audited to satisfy DHB concerns. The court case was never about that. The court case was to stop DHBs inserting collective agreement clauses in funding arrangements with private providers – such clauses favour the CTU,” Mr Taylor said.

HealthCare Providers is not aware of any aged care provider that has not passed on all of the funding allocated for aged care workers. Most workers received a 6 - 7% increase and some received as much as $1 per hour. “If the CTU can direct me to any one of my members who have not passed on all of the funding, I will work with them to ensure the commitment we made in May is met. It’s time for them to put up or shut up,” he said.

Mr Taylor said the High Court case was important because the judge found that the Minister of Health acted improperly. “The CTU says such a finding was a technicality. If they think acting outside the law is merely a technicality, then it says lot about how they are ready to cheat the system to their own ends.”

The full judgment can be found at www.healthcareproviders.org.nz under ‘important papers’.

ENDS

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