Workers will hold Minister to comments on workers comp

Unions NSW has vowed to hold Finance Minister Greg Pearce to his statement that the start date for the new two and a half year caps on workers compensation payments will not apply retrospectively.

In Estimates hearings on Monday the Minister said that the cap would begin on January 1, 2013 rather than being backdated.

Loco Division Secretary Bob Hayden said the whole trade union movement would be keeping a close eye on the Minister to make sure he stays true to his word.

“We’ll be watching the Minister to make sure he doesn’t go back on this commitment,” Bob Hayden said.

“The cap on weekly payments for injured workers is itself disgraceful. But to backdate it, meaning some injured workers be stripped of their payments straight away, is about as low as it gets.

“At least if Minister Pearce stays true to his word, injured workers will have another two and a half years of weekly payments from the 1st January 2013 before the government cuts them off.”