(2).jpg)
The strikes against the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) continue as medical advisors walked off the job again on July 25.
“They’re very unhappy about ACC’s continuing refusal to negotiate properly with them,” Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS) senior industrial officer Lloyd Woods said. “They’re not asking for a lot, or for anything unreasonable, but ACC just won’t listen.” This is the second in a series of five rolling stoppages over their unsettled collective employment agreement. The members want a redundancy agreement that matches what other ACC employees are eligible for. They also demand a statement about the importance of staff well-being included in the collective agreement, and a 1% per year salary increase.
Woods noted ASMS has raised the stalemate with the Minister responsible for ACC, Iain Lees-Galloway.
“ACC seems to have a really cavalier attitude towards medical advisers and their claims, and that’s just ratcheting up the heat in the situation,” he added.
“These are very experienced, patient senior doctors who do important work for ACC, and the fact their employer isn’t taking their quite reasonable claims seriously constitutes a lack of good faith in our view. It really denotes a lack of care or concern for them.”
New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (CTU) secretary Sam Huggard, meanwhile, said the second strike action by ACC advisors shows that the “belligerent tactics of ACC’s management are outmoded and lead nowhere.”
“A more constructive approach from ACC would really help,” Huggard noted. “If asking ACC managers to say they support staff wellbeing, offer the same redundancy provisions they already offer other ACC employees and contemplate a less-than-CPI pay increase is more than they are even prepared to talk about – I think all employers should be able to do better than that.
“Basic respect for employees - wherever they are in the workforce - has to be a cornerstone of all employment relationships,” he added.
Further strikes are planned for August 02, 10 and 13.
