Press Release
NUW calls on Federal Government to assist with Huon insurance bond fight
Wednesday December 13, 2006
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Victorian State Secretary Antony Thow
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National Union of Workers Victorian State Secretary Antony Thow has called on the Federal Government to step in and assist retrenched workers from Empire Rubber in Bendigo in their fight to have an insurance bond honoured.
The insurance policy was taken out for workers at Empire Rubber when Huon Corporation Managing Director John Schulz bought the site from Nylex at the end of last year.
The bond was to ensure that if the company failed, the workers’ entitlements would be safe.
Huon Corporation subsequently went into administration in June, and liquidation in October, with 87 workers already retrenched in Bendigo and the expectation of more to come before the business is sold, hopefully in the New Year.
The independent trustees of the insurance bond expect to put in a demand application within days however, Thow said all indications thus far suggested it was likely to be rejected.
He said if that was the case, the only avenue to recover the $7million bond, would be court action, which would be lengthy and expensive.
Thow said as the Government had delayed paying GEERS to the retrenched workers because of the existence of the bond it shouldn’t then have any trouble supporting them by helping fund the likely litigation to recover their entitlements.
“These workers have been without an income since July and there is no doubt many are really struggling,” Thow said.
“Liberal Senator for Victoria Michael Ronaldson yesterday questioned why the insurance bond hadn’t been retrieved, and blamed that for why the Federal Government had delayed paying these workers any GEERS entitlements.
“The Federal Government was fully aware of the insurance policy situation and rather than hiding behind it as a reason for delaying GEERS why not truly step in and support these workers by financially assisting them to recover this bond?
“Any litigation is likely to cost more than $250,000. These workers can’t afford that, they are already struggling to meet their basic needs. So rather than political grandstanding, we call on the Government to step in and help these struggling families to recover their money in any way we can.
“These workers have been deserted so far by everyone but their union. The NUW and liquidators SimsPartners have worked tirelessly to negotiate a rescue package with Empire’s customers to save as many jobs as possible.
“The NUW has also supported legal action to recover the assets stripped by John Schulz, including the land on which Empire Rubber is based. And we are now working with SimsPartners to secure a sale of the business and the long-term viability of the site.”
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Last modified 2006-12-13 10:46 AM
