An explosion at the Pike River Mine killed 29 men in 2010.. Photo: Supplied / Pike River Recovery Agency
Unions are calling on the government to support a corporate manslaughter law on the anniversary of the Pike River Mine disaster.
Fifteen years have passed since an explosion ripped through the remote mine on the South Island's West Coast, killing 29 men.
New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (NZCTU) president Sandra Grey said New Zealand needed a corporate manslaughter law.
"Corporations should not be above the law," she said. "If they are responsible for workplace deaths, they must be held criminally liable.
"We are today releasing a policy that calls on the government to introduce a new crime of corporate manslaughter.
"This would hold corporations guilty for acts of culpable killing, and give the public confidence that corporations and their managers will be held to account."
Grey said work to implement a new law had already been done through a member's bill - the Crimes (Corporate Homicide) Amendment Bill - in Labour MP Camilla Belich's name.
"This law would mark a paradigm shift in how health and safety is recognised and enforced at every level," she said. "It would ensure that the most extreme breaches of health and safety obligations result in criminal liability.
"Tragedies such as the Pike River Mine disaster demonstrate that corporations can and do kill workers. It is past time that our law is updated to ensure justice for victims.
"New Zealand has a terrible record. One worker dies every week on the job and 17 more from work-related illnesses.
"Every single death is preventable."
Grey said the NZCTU acknowledged campaigners, including Sonya Rockhouse and Anna Osborne, who had fought for justice.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
