The Guardian 19 September, 2007
Tackling the guest worker issue
The Western Australian Branch of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) is joining with unions from other countries, including Japan, the Philippines, China, India and Mauritius to tackle the problems associated with guest labour.
A conference of building unions in the Asia Pacific region was held in Manila in February this year to try and deal with issues of underpayment of guest workers and their lack of rights to complain about their working conditions here in Australia and other countries where they seek work.
"There is no shortage of employers who see temporary migrant labour as a means to cut the wages and working conditions of Australian workers and the Howard Government has been complicit in this by actively encouraging its 457 scheme", said CFMEU industrial advocate Tim Kucera.
The big problem according to the union is that workers on 457 Visas have few if any legal rights.
Employers with workers on 457 Visas hold the whip handle as they can threaten these workers with deportation if they join a trade union or complain their wages and working conditions.
There are many examples of employer use of 457 visa holders in the local construction industry with the Hanssen construction company a big user. "When workers on 457 Visas first turned up to these sites from the Philippines we were told it was because the company could not find enough skilled workers locally," said Mr Kucera.
"Hanssen company representatives later revealed that their motive was to attract a compliant labour force that they were paying less than half the going rate of other sites around town."
The absence of any legal rights for guest workers is not a problem confined to Australia and like many nations involved in guest worker schemes, Australia has failed to ratify two important International Labour Organisation conventions on the rights of migrant workers.
"It is unlikely the current federal government will be moving any time soon to change this", noted Mr Kucera. "That is because the right of an employer to have guest workers on 457 Visas deported at will, would breach these conventions."
In the Philippines, income generated by labour migration makes up as much as 20 percent of the country’s gross domestic products. One dollar in every ten that a Filipino worker makes overseas is paid back to the Philippine government in remittances. Last year income from remittances generated as much as A$14 billion for the Philippine economy alone. If the Philippine government did not receive these remittances the country’s economy would collapse overnight.
Workers departing to work overseas are often indebted to migration agents for airfares and for other departure fees payable to the Philippines government. To meet the cost of departure expenses workers often have to sell property and assets.
Guest workers might get well-paid jobs overseas (by Philippine standards) but might find themselves in difficulties if the job doesn’t last and their debts are not met. Guest workers might also fall prey to work related injury or other abuse.
"We heard terrible stories about the sexual abuse of female guest workers in other countries, particularly those employed in domestic labour. There’s a lot we can do", says Mr Kucera. "But the inaction of the Howard Government on this issue means that the abuse of guest workers and all workers in this country will never be resolved until we throw the Howard Government out of office."
Cases of abuse
Four Indian workers hired by RTBC Pty Ltd were evicted from their accommodation, sacked from their jobs and threatened with deportation after refusing to sign individual contracts that cut their pay. The workers had been charged $10,000 to get their jobs, plus airfares. The workers were charged $100 a week in rent to live on bunk beds in two crowded rooms in their employer’s construction yard.
A Chinese welder brought to Australia was forced to work after breaking his right wrist at work. The worker, who had ceased work under doctor’s orders, was sacked by his employer and told that he would be deported from Australia in 28 days. Before coming to Australia the worker had been charged more than $21,000 to gain entry to the country.
South Australian beef processor Teys Bros locked out 20 of its permanent Australian workers who had refused to sign AWAs. Workers on 457 Visas were brought in to replace them.
Three Filipino workers who complained to unions about their wages and working conditions were threatened with deportation. Their employer had not only been underpaying them, forcing them to work excessive hours. They were paid $450 a week for bunk style accommodation and were even being charged for access to a TV.
Thirty-eight Chinese national working on a Sydney building site for the company Hunan Industrial Equipment Installation were found to have been underpaid to the tune of over $650,000. The company was closed down by government authorities after union intervention until safety issues were addressed.
Four Chinese workers employed by Melbourne printing firm Aprint Pty Ltd, were found to be underpaid a total of almost $93,000. After the federal government’s Office of Workplace Services recovered the money, each worker, under threat of deportation, was required to sign an individual contract that contained an obligation to repay the underpaid wages to the employer.
Electrical linesmen employed from the Philippines on 457 Visas by Melbourne company ABC Global Services, signed individual work contracts that allowed them to be sacked and deported if they joined a trade union or engaged in union activities. Australian authorities accepted this as legitimate until it was exposed by unions.
Acknowledgement to Construction Worker