National’s Rollback Of Workers’ Rights Continues With ACC

The National-led Government’s bill to raise ACC levies and reduce coverage is just one more step in their programme to roll back workers’ rights, says the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union.

The announcement of rollbacks to ACC made today by Nick Smith follows announcements by John Key on Tuesday that cuts will be made to holidays and unfair dismissal protections and indications on Wednesday from Kate Wilkinson that the Government would be amenable to reintroducing wage discrimination for young workers.

EPMU national secretary Andrew Little says the changes to ACC are unnecessary.

“In the last financial year ACC made a cash surplus of $1 billion and showed reserves of around $11 billion.

"There is no crisis.

“The Government is claiming these changes are about ACC’s financial troubles but the reality is it’s about their agenda of rolling back every gain Kiwi workers have made in the last decade.

“It’s becoming clear that the Government has a programme to roll back workers’ rights piece by piece in the hope it can return to the policy settings of the 1990s by stealth, and this ham-fisted attack on ACC is just part of that agenda.

“When it comes to Kiwi workers this Government has just two settings; do nothing or do harm. The changes to ACC will do harm.”

The EPMU is New Zealand’s largest private-sector union, representing 45,000 working New Zealanders across 11 industries.

ENDS

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