Foreign workers 'enslaved'

[Heracles 417]

Just goes to show that the only people who benefit from these visas for jobs that apparently locals will not do is the employer. It basically gives employers the green light to do as they please..

Foreign workers 'enslaved'

Matthew Moore and Malcolm Knox

August 28, 2007

CONDITIONS in remote Australian workplaces, where two foreigners died within three days in June, are so harsh that a leading immigration expert says they are "akin to slavery".

An investigation has exposed blatant breaches of the 457 skilled visa scheme and uncovered details of the deaths of the two workers in the Northern Territory and Queensland, and of a third man north of Perth.

The investigation highlights exploitation of overseas workers, too afraid to speak out, under a scheme that allows employers to sponsor thousands of foreigners to come into Australia and do jobs locals cannot or will not do.

It reveals the "extremely ugly face" of the 457 visa system, according to the immigration expert, Professor Bob Birrell, from Monash University.

The Age has learned that a university-trained Filipino farm supervisor, Pedro Balading, was thrown off the back of a Toyota utility and killed on an NT cattle station in June. A witness, who was on the back of the ute, says it was being driven fast on a rough road.

Mr Balading, 35, left behind a wife and three young children.

His wife says that in the months before his death, he complained repeatedly that his working conditions were much tougher than he had been told to expect, and that he was forced to do menial work such as fencing, in breach of his skilled visa.

Two days earlier, a logger from Inner Mongolia, China, 33-year-old Guo Jian Dong, died in a remote state forest 700 kilometres west of Brisbane. A tree he was felling brushed a dead tree, which then fell and crushed him.

Although the visas only allow foreign workers into Australia to do jobs for which they are skilled, Jack Watson, the man who trained Mr Guo, says he had never used a chainsaw before he arrived in Queensland. Mr Guo left behind a wife, and a child he had never met.

Others who work for NK Collins, the company that employed Mr Guo, are still living in western Queensland, including three who live in a caravan in a timber mill next to the Mitchell town dump, speak no English, and push a wheelbarrow nearly 3 kilometres to town to buy food.

"The specific instances … are akin to slavery," Professor Birrell said. "That derives from the fact that these people are cowed into believing that if they move away from their contract they will have to go home. Employers are exploiting their power in the relationship."

In the other case that has come to light, a Filipino stonemason, Wilfredo Navales, 43, was crushed to death by two slabs of granite in a stoneworks north of Perth in March. Mr Navales's family says he died doing labouring he was forced into, rather than using the skills for which he was ostensibly brought to Australia.

The 457 visa requires employers to abide by strict conditions, but The Age found numerous breaches, including:

■Workers in positions that have no benefit for local workforces.

■Accommodation and meal expenses wrongly deducted directly from workers' wages.

■Workers employed in locations other than those stated on visas.

■Safety standards ignored.

■Overtime unpaid.

A Federal Government report into the deaths, due for release in mid-July, was still not finished, a spokeswoman for Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews said.

But she flagged possible action against employers in the NT and Queensland.

The 457 visas were originally designed for professionals, but recently had been "picked up by much more marginal employers", Professor Birrell said.

Another expert on the visas, former public servant Bob Kinnaird, of R.T. Kinnaird and Associates, said design faults in the scheme had set up a "race to the bottom in work conditions".

"People from low-wage countries, even if they are being underpaid by Australian standards, are still earning more than at home, so they will be tempted to put up with anything to stay here," Mr Kinnaird said.

The Immigration Department has just 65 officers to monitor compliance with visas, which makes it impossible to police more than 100,000 visa holders.

The Government says 20 people have died on 457 visas in Australia in the past five years, but only three in work- related incidents.

[Jasman0717 9]

I think the Filipino government started training through CFO because of problems RP nationals were having working abroad.

[almaty 19]

sad state of affairs

[Jasman0717 9]

Claudeth told me that some Filipinos were being held hostage by their employers. that is terrible

[Heracles 417]

While I am not a union fan I agree with the following:

"You simply can't bring over cheap workers to drive 50-tonne trucks and not expect carnage," TWU spokesman Mark Crosdale said.

Employers warned over 457 visa abuse

August 28, 2007 - 5:35PM

Unions today ramped up criticism of the scheme and Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd called for better monitoring after reports three 457 visa holders had died in the past five months.

Filipino farm supervisor Pedro Balading was thrown off the back of a truck and killed on a Northern Territory cattle station in June, not long after complaining he was being forced to do menial work in breach of his visa conditions.

Two days earlier, Chinese logger Guo Jian Dong died north of Brisbane when a dead tree fell and crushed him.

In the third death, in March, Filipino stonemason Wilfredo Navales was crushed by slabs of granite at his workplace north of Perth.

The 457 visa scheme allows employers to import temporary skilled foreign workers to perform jobs that cannot be filled locally.

Mr Andrews said there would be no changes to the visa program.

"Unfortunately, workplace accidents occur every day and they're tragic," a spokeswoman for the minister said.

"But to say that because a couple (of accidents) occurred with people on a particular visa therefore there's a problem with the visa, it's very much throwing the baby out with the bath water."

Mr Andrews said the government would prosecute bosses who breached 457 visa requirements.

Foreign workers were entitled to the same protections in the workplace as Australians, he said, accusing unions of running a scare campaign.

Mr Rudd said he was sickened to think foreign workers may have died because shonky employers required them to perform work for which they were not qualified.

"The reports, if accurate, are revolting, absolutely revolting," he said.

"We've got to now look very carefully at the effective implementation and monitoring of the 457 system."

However, the Labor leader acknowledged there was a place for 457 visas as they helped plug skills shortages.

The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) demanded a judicial inquiry.

"These deaths are the tip of the iceberg," CFMEU national secretary John Sutton said.

"Only a serious judicial inquiry that shines a spotlight on these deaths and other examples of the exploitation we know is occurring will bring these abuses into the open."

The Transport Workers' Union urged the government not to extend the 457 visa program to the transport industry.

"You simply can't bring over cheap workers to drive 50-tonne trucks and not expect carnage," TWU spokesman Mark Crosdale said.

As of December 2006, immigration department rules required 457 visa holders to be paid at least $41,850, or $37,665 in regional areas.

In 2006-07, the government approved 46,680 of the visas, many for people employed as medical practitioners, nurses and IT specialists.

The fresh complaints surrounding the skilled worker scheme come as a parliamentary committee prepares to hand down its findings from an inquiry into 457 visas.

The inquiry was set up in December after concerns rogue bosses were underpaying foreign workers, ignoring safety standards and employing foreigners in unskilled jobs for which the visa was not intended.

AAP

[Heracles 417]

This sort of ###### is what the US has to look forward too if congress approves a temporary guest worker visa.. I also did not realize that foreign workers had the same rights and protection as Australian workers there.

Edited August 28, 2007 by Boo-Yah!