Gvt abdicates responsibility for disability sector

new-zealand-labour-party

Thu Mar 17 2011 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)

Gvt abdicates responsibility for disability sector

Thursday, 17 March 2011, 1:17 pm
Press Release: New Zealand Labour Party

Government shamefully abdicates responsibility for disability sector

National’s refusal to back a decision by the Court of Appeal which would ensure workers who perform sleepovers are paid the minimum wage has let down thousands of disability support workers, says Labour’s spokesperson for Labour Issues Darien Fenton.

“The Government should have met with stakeholders in the disability support sector, including the Carers’ Union immediately after the Court of Appeal decision to negotiate a durable solution,” Darien Fenton said.

“The Government’s inaction is typical. Disability support workers provide quality care and are entitled to the minimum wage.

“Instead, by doing nothing the Government has forced IHC into wasting hundreds of thousands of dollars on a fruitless legal quest to overturn a decision that three Courts have determined.

“The Government expects disability support workers to cop twenty years of being paid less than the minimum wage, Labour says that’s not good enough.

“They cannot continue to take advantage of the goodwill and commitment of a sector that provides such essential care for some of our most vulnerable citizens.

“It’s a shameful abdication of responsibility by the Government,” Darien Fenton said.

ends

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