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U N I O N N E W S<br />
with Joe McDonald<br />
Will this be a glimpse of things to come under a Tony<br />
Abbott regime? You would think it was an exercise by US<br />
Navy Seals, but in reality a helicopter was used to fly in<br />
foreign workers to bust a picket line in Werribie Victoria at<br />
the Western Treatment Plant. The community picket,<br />
made up of a lot of unemployed tradies, was disgusted<br />
that while they were on the picket with no job and no pay<br />
– Filipino workers were being flown in over the picket by<br />
their employer. A protest spokesperson said Filipino<br />
workers on 457 work visas were being flown in while local<br />
unemployed tradespeople desperately searched for<br />
work. The visas enable companies to sponsor foreign<br />
workers if skills cannot be found locally.<br />
Life under Abbott?<br />
Those on the picket line had a clear and fair message;<br />
employ local unemployed people before visa<br />
workers.<br />
O F F S I T E R O U N D U P<br />
with Aaron Mackrell & Pat Heathcote<br />
Wages Recovered for casual workers<br />
It’s always good when our union<br />
swings into action for the members.<br />
We are proud in our union to<br />
perform at the service end. When a<br />
problem comes to our attention we<br />
act on it and when it comes to<br />
members missing out on hard<br />
earned money in their pocket for<br />
themselves and their families –<br />
watch out!<br />
A combined total of over $16,000<br />
was back paid to nine casual<br />
employees working in the GCS<br />
Rapid yard in Redcliffe. It may not<br />
seem like a lot when you break it<br />
down per person but it’s money that<br />
belongs in the pockets of our<br />
members and that’s where it ended<br />
up! For those that don’t know, GCS<br />
supply scaffold to numerous sites<br />
and projects throughout Western<br />
Australia. Under the EBA for their<br />
Back in<br />
the workers<br />
pocket:<br />
$16,000!<br />
Redcliffe yard any casuals employed in the yard are required to be paid at the<br />
same rate as the permanent employees plus any applicable loading. For a<br />
number of months this wasn’t happening. When it was brought to our attention<br />
it was acted on immediately. Thank you to our shop steward ‘Jimbo’ for getting<br />
all the affected employees together and for keeping them up to date during the<br />
whole process. The GCS boys have proven that it pays to be a CFMEU<br />
member.<br />
If you think you are missing out or need advice call Aaron Mackrell on<br />
0403 432 221 or Pat Heathcote on 0459 135 033.<br />
Construction Worker – <strong>Autumn</strong> 2013 Page 53<br />
CFMEU