What has happened to 43,000 Christchurch workers?

The Council of Trade Unions (NZCTU) is not surprised that the number of workers being supported by the earthquake support subsidy has reduced from 47,000 to just 4,000. That shows there is some recovery but also reflects the fact that the Government has drastically reduced the amount of income support, changed eligibility rules and is now set to phase out the support entirely.

NZCTU Earthquake Recovery Coordinator Marty Braithwaite said that "we have asked the Ministry of Social Development to trace what has happened to those 47,000 workers given the Government has all the employer contact details. They have not done this. They cannot tell us where these people are. We know many do not qualify for unemployment benefit".

"Some of those 47,000 workers have clearly managed to get work, which is good news. Some have left Canterbury. We never claimed all these people would end up on unemployment benefit but we did express a concern that up to 20,000 of those receiving this support could end up out of work for an extended period".

"The Government is not able to reassure us on this".

The CTU had proposed an ongoing Worker Assistance Package for Canterbury.

The package has three components - ongoing income support for those workers who cannot return to their old job or find a suitable new job; a number of skills initiatives, and; employment schemes.

Marty Braithwaite said that the CTU has welcomed the announcement on skills and training but believes it is only a modest measure at this stage.

We have still not seen any announcements about employment schemes and income support is now being withdrawn.

The CTU is calling on the Government to commit to long term support for Canterbury workers and to release statistics showing what has happened to the 47,000 who were receiving the earthquake support subsidy.

ENDS.

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