Business NZ levy demands jeopardises compensation

new-zealand-council-of-trade-unions

Fri Nov 04 2005 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)

Business NZ levy demands jeopardises compensation

Friday, 4 November 2005, 12:42 am
Press Release: New Zealand Council of Trade Unions

MEDIA RELEASE

04 November 2005

Business NZ levy demands would jeopardise compensation for injured workers

“The Business New Zealand ACC levy demands are irresponsible and would jeopardise the financial security of the ACC scheme,” said Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson. Mr Wilson is a former Deputy Chair of the Accident Compensation Corporation.

Business NZ today demanded that the prudential margins in the ACC Employers Account be reduced and the $400 million reserves be paid to employers”.

“This is exactly the irresponsible decision that was taken by the Muldoon Government in the early 1980s which resulted in the bankruptcy of the Employers Account a few years later,” Ross Wilson said. “And similar decisions were made by Ruth Richardson in the early 1990s with similar results.”

“The Business NZ demand completely ignores these previous disastrous experiences and displays a reckless disregard for the interests of the thousands of injured workers who rely on ACC for their financial security.”

“In any event the money is not employers’ money,” said Ross Wilson. “It is a payroll tax and proper analysis would show that the burden of that is shared by employers and workers.”

“It is about time that Business NZ accepted that employers in New Zealand enjoy the cheapest workers compensation cover of any comparable country in the world,” he concluded. “If they look across the Tasman Australian employers are paying several times more.”

ENDS

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