Journal - Rail, Tram and Bus Union
Journal - Rail, Tram and Bus Union
Journal - Rail, Tram and Bus Union
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
SPECIAL REPORT!<br />
NUMBER OF<br />
THE LEAST<br />
Sydney, March 2003<br />
Ribs, Rumps <strong>and</strong> a Bum Steer<br />
There were tearful scenes at Sydney Airport as two South African<br />
chefs left Australia, after blowing the whistle on a guest labour<br />
abuser.<br />
Reevis Khumalo <strong>and</strong> William Ndlovu claimed six-figure back<br />
payments from Manly eatery, Ribs <strong>and</strong> Rumps, after years of six<br />
<strong>and</strong> seven day weeks in its kitchens.<br />
The pair won confidential settlements but, because the<br />
restaurant no longer sponsored them, they were deported.<br />
“We are very, very disappointed,” Khumalo said. “We lived in<br />
Australia for four <strong>and</strong> a half years <strong>and</strong> started new lives here but,<br />
because our employer did the wrong thing, we have been forced<br />
to leave.<br />
“It is a bad thing, my friend, because it wasn’t us who broke<br />
any Australian laws.”<br />
Ballarat, March 2005<br />
MaxiRorts in Victoria<br />
Nine Aussies are denied metal trades apprenticeships when a<br />
Ballarat trailer manufacturer replaces them with a consignment<br />
of Chinese welders.<br />
MaxiTrans withdraws offers to school leavers, <strong>and</strong> local<br />
unemployed people, after winning approval to bring in 43<br />
welders on 457 visas.<br />
The company pulled the pin on people it had<br />
already put through medicals. Chris Walters<br />
was one. He told local media his steel<br />
fabricator’s apprenticeship had been<br />
shelved.<br />
He called the company’s aboutface<br />
a “kick in the guts”.<br />
Canberra, Feb 2006<br />
Capital Punishment<br />
Howard Government ministers wined <strong>and</strong><br />
dined in a bar accused of exploiting <strong>and</strong> bullying<br />
Filipino guest workers.<br />
The Holy Grail - home to Canberra’s pollierati - is<br />
one of three establishments fingered in federal<br />
parliament by Senator Kate Lundy.<br />
Forget 666 - 457 is looming as the<br />
scariest number for Aussie workers<br />
<strong>and</strong> their families.<br />
T<br />
hird<br />
World childcare workers <strong>and</strong> hairdressers will soon be<br />
exploited in Australia, courtesy of the federal government’s<br />
controversial 457 Visa scheme.<br />
Doors to the program, originally targeted at high-end professions<br />
like IT <strong>and</strong> health, are being thrown open to a range of employers<br />
who want to slash wages, conditions <strong>and</strong> job security.<br />
Immigration Department stats show that, last year, 28,042 457<br />
working visas were issued. Analysts predict another 70,000 “guests”<br />
will start working in Australia this year.<br />
So what<br />
Well, the problem isn’t skilled immigration. Australia was built<br />
on that sort of policy.<br />
But people on 457 visas are in a different situation, with few rights,<br />
<strong>and</strong> no workplace protections. In combination with WorkChoices,<br />
the visa system invites exploitation that will have repercussions<br />
across the workforce.<br />
457 Visas allow people to live <strong>and</strong> work in Australia for four<br />
years but they are tied to sponsoring employers. If they fall out with<br />
sponsors, they can be deported.<br />
And they don’t receive Aussie wages or conditions.<br />
DIMA has just increased the minimum earnings of “guest<br />
workers” to $41,8500 per year, <strong>and</strong>, effectively, that’s it. They can,<br />
<strong>and</strong> do, work 60 hours a week across six or seven days, for that<br />
money - drastically undercutting Aussie rates.<br />
Many earn far less <strong>and</strong> DIMA sits on its h<strong>and</strong>s.<br />
For at least five years, cooks, labourers, builders, tradesmen<br />
<strong>and</strong> meatworkers have been entering Australia, without basic<br />
protections.<br />
She said workers, imported from the Philippines, had been underpaid,<br />
treated like slaves, <strong>and</strong> subjected to racial abuse.<br />
Lundy told Parliament a Canberra businessman had recruited Filipino<br />
hospitality workers, last year, <strong>and</strong> “sold” them to employers for $6000-<br />
$8000 a head.<br />
Sydney, June 2006<br />
Safety Goes East<br />
Chinese Communists use guest worker visas to undercut Australian rates<br />
12 | Australian <strong>Rail</strong> <strong>Tram</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Bus</strong> Worker December 2006