CFMEU wins WorkCover top-up deal
By Michael Bull
MELBOURNE — The Master Builders Association (MBA) last week agreed to union demands for workers' compensation top-up insurance to cover the state government cuts to WorkCover.
Construction workers who cannot work through illness or injury will receive two years' wages. An extra $250,000 will be added to the $400,000 death benefit provided by WorkCover — a slight improvement on most damages payouts after court cases (usually about $600,000).
Under this arrangement, anyone with a terminal illness will receive two years' pay, which is an improvement on the previous WorkCover benefits.
Last year, tens of thousands of Victorians marched in three separate rallies against cuts to the WorkCover scheme. On the eve of threatened industrial action, the MBA struck this agreement with the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union.
A union source said it was "a great victory for the Victorian building industry", but may have decapitated the campaign because without leadership from the CFMEU, it is unlikely that the across-the-board WorkCover coverage will be saved from the cuts.
Negotiations between the CFMEU and the MBA have stalled on pay increases. The MBA has offered a 13% pay increase over two years, but the CFMEU will start an industrial campaign to win its demand of 16%.