Sunday, 17 June 2012

WorkCover inquiry 'fixed', union says

A PARLIAMENTARY inquiry recommending key WorkCover benefits be scrapped or reduced is a whitewash, a union says.

The NSW Government ordered the inquiry into the WorkCover scheme, which distributes benefits to injured workers, to try to rein in a $4.1 billion deficit.

The committee examining the scheme recommended benefits for employees injured on the way to and from work be scrapped, with only police exempted.

It also recommended medical expenses be capped and injury benefits be reduced after 13 weeks - replacing the current system of a 100 per cent payout for 26 weeks.

But the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) said the inquiry simply rubber-stamped the Government's reform blueprint.

"The inquiry was a fix from start to finish, with the committee stacked by government and pro-government members," union president Rita Mallia said in a statement.

" It is unconscionable and a blatant attack on our most vulnerable workers - the injured - that will result in the creation of a class of new poor in this state."

Ms Mallia said exempting police from changes to the travel cover meant their lives had been valued higher than others.

The committee's recommendations were tabled yesterday, several hours after thousands of workers protested over the changes outside Parliament House.



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WorkCover Independent Contractor said...

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