Press Release
NUW calls for greater protection of worker entitlements as car parts distributor closes it doors
Tuesday February 12, 2008
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NUW General Secretary Charlie Donnelly
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National Union of Workers General Secretary Charlie Donnelly has called on governments at all levels to provide greater protection for workers’ entitlements following the closure of car part distributor National Parts today (Tuesday February 12, 2008).
Administrators Korda Mentha were brought in to National Parts this morning, leaving nearly 80 NUW members across the country facing an uncertain future.
Donnelly said the closure of the parts distributor was unexpected with employees only finding out about the extent of the company’s woes when they arrived at work this morning.
In fact in Queensland many workers performed half a day’s work because administrators and management were unable to print out the information letters, as there was no ink in the photocopier, a disgraceful way to treat more than 20 NUW members, some of whom had been with the company upwards of 18 years.
Donnelly said at this early stage it was unclear exactly what money would be available for entitlements, with administrators not expected to know more until early next week.
What was clear, he said, was that no workers would be paid for this week at this stage.
“This is yet another example of a car parts company going to the wall and many workers being left in limbo.
“Workers in Queensland thought they were safe having a strong redundancy clause in their Union Collective Agreement, but in the current situation they could lose more than 60 weeks in redundancy pay depending on how bad the situation really is,” Donnelly said.
“Workers in Victoria face similar uncertainty, with long-term employees entitled up to 48 weeks redundancy pay, while in NSW employees could lose their basic Award redundancy entitlements.
“This could mean these workers are forced to join the queue for GEERS money where they are restricted to an average maximum of 12 weeks pay.
“And recent history suggests they could be waiting for awhile. Workers at Empire Rubber in Bendigo were forced to wait for months for their GEERS entitlements when made redundant last year.
“Employers have to be more accountable for their employees’ entitlements. It is not good enough to say if there is no money in the bank then GEERS will cover it, because quite frankly it does not. What are these workers meant to do about their mortgages and basic living expenses?
“The time has come to ensure that employees’ entitlements are secured and management can no longer walk away from these situations saying it is someone else’s problem.
“In the meantime though, the NUW will assist all those workers at National Parts as much as we can to ensure their entitlements are met and they are able to find future employment.”
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Last modified 2008-02-14 03:04 PM
