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MBIE and Forest Owners Collude to Deny Workers Info
MBIE and Forest Owners Collude to Deny Forest Workers
Information about Rights
Forest Owners will run
Government funded “safety breakfasts” in January this
year for forest workers but have refused to allow these
workers to receive information about their rights at work
including the impact of poor working conditions on health
and safety. The breakfasts paid for by the Ministry of
Business, Innovation and Employment at $20 per head will
include a short presentation by Ministry inspectors on the
new Forest Safety Regulations and then a briefing from
employers.
“Unions sought to attend to tell
workers about their rights at work, including to refuse
dangerous work, to demand safe hours and roster arrangements
and to elect worker health and safety representatives at
their workplace. “ Helen Kelly, CTU President said.
“We also wanted to give them our view that poor
conditions are causing forest accidents and they can seek
advice from us about these matters. This request was
turned down by the Forest Owners unanimously and the
Ministry did not support it in any active way. As a
compromise it was agreed that a union leaflet would be
distributed by the Ministry with content agreed by the
Forest Owners – last minute on Friday both the Ministry
and Forest Owners changed their minds and the leaflet has
been canned”.
“What you have here is the
employers in the most dangerous workplaces in NZ
determining the Regulator’s approach to health and safety
in the industry. Basically what they say goes and this is
unchallenged by the Government Department that is charged
with keeping workers safe. The recently released
regulations for the industry were written by the employers
and fall well short of Australian and Canadian standards
with key elements like employee participation, maximum
hours and days off and working in harsh weather completely
minimised or missing. And now the Ministry is funding
these breakfasts with agendas run on the employers terms to
deliberately deny these workers getting any voice at all”.
The Inquiry into Pike River found that worker
participation and voice is a key element of workplace health
and safety that must be improved and that it was one of the
failings in the mine. It found the regulator weak and
bullied by the Pike management and unwilling to take a
stand.
Helen Kelly said “we are concerned
that this is being repeated in the Forest Industry. There
have been 13 deaths in 3 years in our forests and the
regulator runs the risk of simply compliantly supporting a
poor safety effort. While this occurs, accidents in the
industry will continue. The New Zealand Forests are
Certified as sustainable under international standards,
which include obligations to support union representation.
Unions will be writing to international forest
certifications bodies raising the unsustainable nature of
New Zealand Forestry”.
ENDS.
New Zealand Council of Trade Unions
Te Kauae Kaimahi
The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi brings together over 350,000 New Zealand union members in 40 affiliated unions. We are the united voice for working people and their families in New Zealand.
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