The following article was published in "The Guardian", newspaper of the Communist Party of Australia in its issue of Wednesday, April 25th, 2001. Contact address: 65 Campbell Street, Surry Hills. Sydney. 2010 Australia. Phone: (612) 9212 6855 Fax: (612) 9281 5795. CPA Central Committee: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> "The Guardian": <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Webpage: http://www.cpa.org.au> Subscription rates on request. ****************************** ANGRY WORKERS TELL CARR GOVT: NO COMPO CUTS! Unions in NSW are sending a clear message to the Carr Government that they reject the Government's plan to take away the compensation rights of injured workers. Last Thursday a warning as to the level of the anger and resolve of workers was sounded when 100,000 building workers, led by the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), downed tools around the State against proposed legislation which would block injured workers' access to compensation, common law and the right to appeal. by Marcus Browning All major building sites from Sydney, the Illawarra, Newcastle, Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour, to Wagga Wagga and Albury, went on strike for 24 hours. There will be ongoing actions, including a protest in Sydney on April 27, the International Day of Remembrance for workers killed in industrial accidents. Truck drivers will this month set up a Sydney blockade. Also from midnight last Thursday, Maritime Union of Australia members placed a 24-hour ban on the collection of fares on state-owned ferries, as well as a 24-hour work to rule campaign at the Sydney Port Corporation and Waterways Authority. Premier Carr and his Industrial Relations Minister, John Della Bosca, are acting on behalf of the employers who are actually rorting the WorkCover system, with around 30 percent of employers in the construction industry under-insuring their workers. The CFMEU said one of the ploys by the bosses is to understate wages, the number of workers employed and the type of work they do. In addition, the CFMEU points to the failure of the Government to fund safety enforcement on building sites. Often companies allow workers' compensation debts to mount up, then go into liquidation rather than pay WorkCover the money. WorkCover has a deficit of more than $2 billion, and Carr and Della Bosca are using this employer-created debt to attack injured workers' rights. Backing the Government, 17 business groups, including Australian Business Ltd and the Retail Traders' Association, are running an advertising campaign in support of the legislation. One of the many examples of the draconian nature of the proposed legislation is its provision of the means to deprive workers with psychological stress of compensation. All workers seeking psychological stress compensation will have to pass a harsh new threshold test, copied from the American Medical Association's impairment guidelines. The test is based on "whole body impairment". <%-4>Richard Brennan, a workers' compensation solicitor for the Public Service Association, said that the threshold is "inordinately high, much higher than the current threshold". In fact, Mr Brennan noted that "due to a technical defect there is actually no way of crossing the threshold for psychological injury". Phil Davey from the CFMEU told "The Guardian", "The savings will be made in cuts to benefits to injured workers. We want the legislation withdrawn totally, and redrafted in consultation with the union movement." Maritime Union Sydney Branch Secretary, Robert Coombs, said the union's members were registering their disgust at the new workers' compensation provisions drawn up by Della Bosca. "We believe that the new laws, if allowed to be enacted, will deny workers natural justice", he said. "They won't even have the right to have disputed claims heard by independent arbitration." ***************************************************************** Carr Govt puts the boot into injured workers NSW construction workers kicked off a campaign by the State's unions against the Carr Government's plans to further undermine workers' compensation in NSW with a 24-hour stop work on April 19. If the Government's Workers' Compensation Legislation Amendment Bill 2001 is passed it will slash the rights of injured workers to any compensation for work-related injuries under the workers' compensation system or at common law. The unions are being supported by doctors' and lawyers' associations, with the Law Society of NSW saying that "the Carr Government has put the boot into people's legal rights". Compensation solicitor Fiona Harris said, "The only way we can stop the government from once again reducing the rights of injured people is to publicly protest [against] the Workers' Compensation Legislation Amendment Bill 2001." Workers will not receive lump sum payments under the new arrangements if they cannot prove that they have suffered a 10 percent permanent bodily impairment as a result of their injury. Workers will also not receive any compensation at common law if they cannot prove that they have suffered 25 percent permanent bodily impairment. Before any disputed claims go before a court for hearings they will have to go before a new Claims Assessment Service which has the power to make legally binding decisions on matters, including the degree of a worker's permanent bodily impairment. Around 95 percent of injured workers who are currently eligible for compensation would receive no payments under the new laws, as exampled by the following case studies under the proposed scheme: * A 30-year-old labourer who sustains a severe back injury and is presently entitled to $350,000, would receive no damages; * A 25-year-old machinist who loses two fingers will get no compensation, presently entitled to lump sum benefits of almost $300,000; * A 40-year-old process worker who suffers severe injury to the right shoulder, and was previously entitled to $225,000, will not qualify for damages; * A 20-year-old apprentice carpenter who suffers 30 percent damage to the neck will receive no damages payment, though previously being entitled to a verdict of around $300,000. Medical assessors will determine a worker's right to compensation. Injured workers will not have the right to speak about their pain and suffering before the Claims Assessment Service, which the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) says will be loaded with Government appointees and perhaps some token union representation. Workers will not have the right to appeal except in the most extreme cases. Continuing attack These latest moves by the Carr Government are part of its ongoing attack on workers' compensation rights in NSW. In 1998 a scheme was introduced whereby private insurance companies are allowed to reward doctors a bonus fee of $55 if they sign a return to work form at the first consultation. If the return to work form is signed at the second or subsequent consultation, then the reward is $45. Payment for upgrading an increase in "suitable" duties for an injured worker already on light duties is $25. Doctor-patient confidentiality was abandoned under these arrangements, injured workers being required to sign over permission at their first visit to allow the doctor to discuss the case with employers, insurers and injury management consultants. Now the Government is once again hitting injured workers to protect employer and insurance company profits. "Our members are furious at Labor's comprehensive failure to address the real problem in workers' comp", said CFMEU Construction Division State Secretary Andrew Ferguson. "Working people understand why there is a problem in NSW -- it is the systematic non-compliance with the law on the part of the bosses, and the Government's failure to police compliance." When asked if other state governments would be watching the outcome of this struggle in NSW, the CFMEU's Phil Davey said: "Absolutely. There's the precedent value, [it] is extremely high. If this thing doesn't get stopped here in NSW there's the potential flow-on effect. "This is where you get into the big themes -- globalisation, the race to the bottom where States have to compete to get investment based on their capacity to do over injured workers." ******************************************************************* Examples of what compo changes mean to injured workers 1) A mechanic with a wife and two children to support loses two fingers in a work-related accident. As a result he is not able to work as a mechanic again and cannot support his family. Under the proposed new scheme he will not get any lump sum compensation for his injury, pain and suffering as he will be assessed as having minimum permanent bodily impairment under the workers' compensation system and at common law. 2) A labourer severely strains her back during the course of her work. She is likely to recover from the strain at sometime in the future but suffers from intense pain and is physically unable to work as a labourer for years. Under the proposed new scheme she will not get any lump sum compensation for her injury, pain and suffering at common law as her injury does not meet the requirement of total permanent bodily impairment. 3) A farmhand who, due to his injury, is unable to do the things he loves in his spare time like playing football, rebuilding cars or renovating his home, will not have any of these loses taken into account in the assessment of his impairment. Under the proposed new scheme his injury alone will be assessed and if it is not assessed as more than the new minimum level of total bodily impairment then he will get no compensation under the workers' compensation system or at common law. *************************************************************** -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:ART: Angry workers tell Carr: NO COMPO CUTS!
Communist Party of Australia Thu, 26 Apr 2001 19:34:35 -0700
