Media Release: Alliance Party
October 6, 2010
For Immediate Release

Time for the Government to stump up cash for IHC support workers

The Alliance Party believes that Government should stump up the cash needed so that IHC can afford to pay its night workers sleepover back pays.

This is in the wake of the Government enforced statutory management placed over two IHC service provider companies after the Service and Food Workers Union won a case over night shift workers back pay.

“The government can afford to bail out South Canterbury Finance investors to the tune of $1.7 billion without batting an eyelid. So why can’t it afford to pay workers on some of the lowest hourly rates in the country the $500 million in back pay the Employment Court says they are entitled to for working sleepovers?” says Disability Issues spokesperson Chris Ford.

The Alliance believes that no one should have to work for less than the minimum wage yet this is exactly what support workers working sleepovers have been doing for decades. The quality of disability support services in this country are generally good but the pay and conditions endured by their workforces are not. The party believes that this is due, in part, to inadequate government funding over many years and also poor management decisions on the part of service providers, such as IHC.

“That’s why Government cannot dodge its responsibilities any longer. It needs to forget about endless appeals or getting the Attorney General to intervene. It needs to start talking to the unions and the health and disability sector to develop a long term solution. This solution must recognize the rights of workers and of disabled people and their families to services that are adequately funded. This would ensure that exploitative workplace practises would end in the sector,” said Mr Ford.

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