Union scrutiny of National’s plans for ACC

The National Party’s intention to open up the Accident Compensation Corporation to competition with private insurance companies has come under fire this week from trade unions and other.

The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions called on National to come clean over whether they would privatize ACC altogether, after reports that Australian insurers were ready to profit in line with their private understanding that National would privatize.

CTU Vice-President Richard Wagstaff  said that the recent Pricewaterhouse Cooper report on ACC was clear, “The benefits of state only provision of accident compensation are significant both for workers and employers, but also non earners and sportspeople.” Finsec Campaigns Director Andrew Campbell said that privatisation and competition in accident insurance is a lose-lose scenario. “It carries increased costs for employers and poorer outcomes for workers. The only group that benefits are the private insurance companies.”