By Sue Bolton
MELBOURNE — Now that the Victorian government's WorkCover bill is before parliament, and unions have had a chance to scrutinise it, it has been discovered to be worse than predicted.
In addition to removing the right of injured workers to sue negligent employers, it removes common law rights to sue negligent doctors who treat work injuries and manufacturers of faulty equipment that causes injuries. It also removes common law rights to sue under the Transport Accident Commission if driving is part of a worker's job.
Claims for permanent impairment must meet a 10% whole body impairment threshold, unless the injury is an amputation. With psychological impairment, the threshold increases to 30%. Two-thirds of claims currently eligible for a lump sum payment would no longer succeed.
After 13 weeks, an injured worker's pay will be cut to 75% or 60% of their previous ordinary time wage. After 104 weeks, weekly payments will stop, unless the worker is assessed as having "no current work capacity and likely to continue to have no current work capacity".
When applying for a job, a person can be asked about any previous injury or illness. If the worker does not disclose this, s/he will not be able to claim compensation for any work-related recurrence or aggravation.
The legislation has already passed the lower house. Premier Jeff Kennett moved to make it retrospective to November 12. It is due to be tabled in the upper house in early December.
A Trades Hall Council delegates' meeting has been called for December 3 to vote on the next stage of the campaign against the changes. The executive will recommend that unions plan for phase two — hit bosses to cover what injured workers will lose from cuts to WorkCover.
The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, the Metal Trades Federation of Trade Unions (MTFTU), and the Australasian Meat Industry Employees' Union have served industry-wide logs of claims on employers' organisations.
The CFMEU will start an on-the-job campaign from the first week in December. Its log includes a lump sum payment of $700,000 to the dependent or the estate of a worker who is killed, $500,000 to a worker who is permanently disabled in addition to their entitlement under the new WorkCover scheme and 100% make-up pay to injured workers for 24 months.
Martin Kingham, state secretary of the CFMEU Construction Division, said, "The log of claims will make it expensive for bosses, and that will put pressure on Kennett. Until we reach agreement with the bosses, if any construction worker is injured or killed, we will close down the job and picket it until the boss pays make-up pay."
The MTFTU — the Electrical Trades Union, the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union and the National Union of Workers — had its log for full make-up pay and compensation rejected by the Metal Trades Industries Association. The MTFTU responded by calling a 24-hour strike to coincide with the delegates' meeting on December 3. The strike will include the vehicle section of the AMWU.
ETU members employed in the railways called a 24-hour strike on November 25, and seven of the eight tram depots in Melbourne have voted to direct the Public Transport Union to call a strike to coincide with the delegates' meeting.
The ALP has still not clarified its position on WorkCover. On some occasions, state Labor leader John Brumby has said a state ALP government would repeal the legislation. Most recently, at a WorkCover demonstration in the seat of Mitcham, Brumby stopped short of guaranteeing repeal.
The word around some union circles is that the ALP is committed only to restoring common law rights, but will refuse to restore compensation payments to their original level.
According to Kingham, this would not be surprising, since "the ALP diluted the previous Workcare scheme twice".
This is all the more reason why delegates on December 3 should oppose any campaign designed solely to serve the election of Labor.
The meeting comes at a crucial stage. While delegates should support calls to serve industry-wide logs of claims, it is important that unions don't let Kennett off the hook. There is a need to call another state stoppage and demonstration, before the bill is voted on in the upper house, to keep the pressure on Kennett.
[Sue Bolton is Melbourne secretary of the Democratic Socialist Party.]