E tū union official questions whether former Chorus boss Mark Ratcliffe 'right person' to reform NZTA
Thursday, 14 February 2019
A top E tū union official has questioned whether former Chorus boss Mark Ratcliffe would be the right person to lead the Transport Agency in the wake of investigations into the treatment of subcontractors building Chorus' ultrafast broadband network.
E tū national industry organiser Joe Gallagher said Ratcliffe – who headed Chorus between 2007 when it was a division of Telecom until 2017 – was the architect of an 'unsustainable' model for building UFB that had been 'open to widespread exploitation'.
Ratcliffe serves as a director of Crown-owned Housing New Zealand and was appointed interim chief executive of the the Transport Agency (NZTA) in December following management changes that coincided with claims poor enforced of regulations by the NZTA were responsible for almost 20,000 vehicles needing warrant of fitness retests.
Gallagher said he found it fascinating that Ratcliffe would be involved in a government job.
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'I would seriously question his long-term appointment to that role given his history in the telco sector where he has not shown any pattern of tripartite working relationships or engagement with unions in any shape or form.
'NZTA is already in a bit of a mess so I would question whether he would be the captain to steer that ship through the troubled waters.'
The Labour Inspectorate said this month that it expected to take compliance action against 72 subcontracting firms that were involved in the construction of Chorus' UFB network after last year identifying widespread breaches of employment law last.
The breaches it uncovered included contracting firms failing to maintain employment records, failing to pay employees' the minimum wage and holiday entitlements, and failing to provide employment agreements.
Visionstream, which is Chorus' largest contractor, has been regarded as a strong proponent of the contracting model for telecommunications work, under which workers driving 'Chorus' vans and hooking up broadband are mostly self-employed on piece rates.
Chorus appointed Visionstream to design and build the UFB network in Auckland in 2009 and expanded the relationship in 2016.
Ratcliffe said when announcing the expanded partnership that Visionstream's operating model had proven to be 'very effective in attracting new crews and lifting performance'.
Visionstream's contract was again extended in 2018, by current Chorus chief executive Kate McKenzie, to cover the construction of the third tranche of the UFB network that will be completed in 2022.
Gallagher said Ratcliffe should have been aware of the issues the Labour Inspectorate had uncovered while he was chief executive of Chorus.
In October, Ratcliffe declined to discuss whether he was surprised by the Labour Inspectorate's initial findings of subbie exploitation, relaying via Chorus that he would not be commenting.
He did not respond to invitations to respond to Gallagher's comments.
Australian law firm Shine Lawyers is seeking support for a class action lawsuit against Visionstream and its subcontractors, after its Auckland lawyer Tim Gunn argued thousands of workers had been wrongly denied employment benefits and engaged as independent contractors under 'really horrendous conditions'.
Chorus last year commissioned an independent review of employment practices of businesses working on the UFB build and both it and Visionstream are investigating largely separate allegations made by a group of whistleblowers that included concerns workers were not being paid correctly.
Visionstream confirmed on Tuesday that its New Zealand managing director Andrew Todd would be stepping down but said that was not related to any ongoing investigations.
NZTA chairman Michael Stiassny did not explicitly rule out Ratcliffe being a candidate for the permanent role at the NZTA, but said he had been appointed in an interim capacity until a permanent chief executive was recruited and on board.
'Mark is a highly experienced chief executive with considerable expertise in running critical national infrastructure. His previous engagement with the unions was not specifically canvassed as part of the appointment process,' he said.
'My expectation is that the chief executive of the NZTA – interim or permanent – will engage meaningfully and positively with all stakeholders, including the unions.'
A spokeswoman for Transport Minister Phil Twyford said he not been consulted on the state sector appointment as this would have been inappropriate.