Kate Lundy (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Sport and Recreation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On Wednesday, 8 March I rose in this place to raise a matter of public interest relating to the employment of skilled migrant workers who had been forced to work under quite appalling circumstances for well below Australian federal award rates in some of Canberra’s restaurants and cafes. This evening I would like to provide a report on the progress of the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union’s work on behalf of their members.

It has been extremely heartening to see the support from responsible employers in Canberra who have been similarly dismayed at the treatment of these workers and the support from the community. In particular I would like to mention the support of Fiona Wright and the Restaurant and Catering Industry Association in Canberra who have played a major role in assisting the LHMU to find those affected workers new employment and sponsors. I am also happy to report the full-time employment of four of the Filipino workers with new sponsors in the Canberra region to date, and I received advice from the union just a few hours ago that a further two workers have been employed in a local hotel. This happily brings the total to six employees who have found new employment.

In Senate estimates DIMA confirmed that as many as 20 workers have lodged complaints about their employment conditions under the 457 subclass visa involving no less than six Canberra restaurants. I have received assurances from the office of the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs and from the department that no actions to change the terms of the immigration status of the individuals concerned will be taken, and that the department will be flexible in regard to ensuring that the visa holders will be given enough time to find alternative employment should they wish. I take these assurances very seriously as DIMA’s role in resolving this dispute is a critically important one.

In relation to underpayment of the award, I have today been informed by the LHMU that both Mr Arrieta and Ms Cruz have received notification from the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations that their wage claims have been sustained, with DEWR confirming that each are owed $510.92 for every week worked. DEWR, or the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, advised the union that the employer—in this case, Zeffirelli’s—will receive formal notification and have 14 days to pay the outstanding moneys. Mr Deguzman, who was originally employed by the Holy Grail, should also receive notification about his wage claim this week from DEWR, with the union awaiting further advice on its other members.

In relation to the very serious and disturbing complaints made to the ACT Human Rights Office, it is my understanding that all of the respondents to the complaints lodged by the union and the workers in the ACT Human Rights Office have replied to the Human Rights and Discrimination Commissioner, who is due to make a ruling on the matters by 31 March 2006. I am also happy to acknowledge that I have received correspondence from the proprietors of Milk and Honey, as did the union, outlining their side of the story. Obviously, they have a point of view that did not match mine. I appreciate their effort and urge them to keep negotiating a resolution with the union.

Perhaps the most concerning response—or should I say lack thereof—has stemmed from the ACT Chamber of Commerce and their representations on behalf of their member Zeffirelli Pizza Restaurant. The chamber’s first response to the allegations was to simply try to spin their way out of trouble via the media, proceeding to respond to the speech I made. They labelled the claims made by the union as frivolous. The LHMU urged the chamber to stop and look at the facts but, rather than sitting down with the union, the workers and the Filipino community generally, the chamber focused on a blanket denial strategy in the media. I could not understand this and found it very disappointing, because there was obviously a serious problem and it is in everyone’s interest to get to the bottom of it and get it fixed. In contrast, the Restaurant and Caterers Association showed leadership by requesting a meeting with the union in an attempt to understand the extent and depth of the problem.

I am critical of the chamber’s head in the sand approach as it implies that the politics of protecting a federal coalition government program has priority over their members’ interests. It also leaves employers in the restaurant sector in Canberra who are doing the right thing and abiding by the law in a competitively disadvantageous position. I would have expected the chamber to ensure that there is a healthy flow of communication between the union, authorities and employers to ensure fair wages and decent work in the hospitality sector in Canberra. This is commonsense.

Meanwhile, I am advised by the union that the conduct of the owners of Zeffirelli Pizza Restaurant has made it extremely difficult for the Filipino workers employed there. To add insult to injury, last Friday, on 24 February 2006, two of the Belconnen Zeffirelli former employees were given three days notice of eviction from their accommodation. The LHMU drew the employer’s attention to the Residential Tenancies Act 1997, which gives the workers a minimum entitlement of 14 days notice in these circumstances. Despite this, the employer’s representatives arrived at the house at 7.15 am on Monday, 27 February 2006—just two days later—and loudly banged on the door and ordered the workers to vacate the house. Obviously, the LHMU is currently trying to find alternative accommodation for the workers.

This action has come just a few days after the LHMU revealed that many workers have been living in cramped quarters, with the ACT secretary of the LHMU stating on 20 February 2006 that, ‘At one point there were seven people living in a two-bedroom flat in Narrabundah.’ With these matters continuing to be investigated, it is also important to take a step back and consider the broader implications that these issues have raised regarding the granting of 457 temporary skilled migrant worker visas.

Since I first raised the concerns of the Canberra migrant workers, the Australian Council of Trade Unions, the ACTU, have called on the Howard government to clean up their act in relation to the sponsorship of skilled migrants to Australia. On Tuesday, 14 February, the ACTU called on the Prime Minister to intervene in Australia’s immigration program to guarantee that temporary work visas are not being abused resulting in the importation of low-paid foreign workers being used to fill job vacancies. The ACTU stated:

These migrant worker abuses highlight the ugly side of the Howard Government’s deregulated job market. The Prime Minister needs to intervene immediately to first make sure that employers look to fill these jobs with Australians. He then needs to make sure any foreign worker is paid decent wages and conditions.

Minister Vanstone has admitted that her department is also currently investigating allegations of Indonesian workers working for Halliburton doing 12-hour shifts for 80 days without a break and getting paid little more than they would earn in Indonesia. Allegations also include that the workers were being housed in very poor conditions at a Halliburton work camp in the Cooper Basin late last year. These claims come after many other recent examples of abuses of the government’s migration program. Locally, more hospitality workers have come forward in the ACT and have approached the LHMU with claims that they too are being exploited and not paid in accordance with their legal entitlements.

All workers in Australia, be they local or from overseas, are entitled by law to be treated with respect and dignity. These workers are entitled to be paid according to the Australian federal award. I encourage workers to be strong and courageous and keep coming forward and sticking up for themselves as the LMHU has showed how effective its advocacy can be on behalf of members and their rights. Once again, in relation to the hospitality industry here in the ACT, there is a great deal of goodwill from the vast majority of employers, workers and unions to stamp out bad practice so that we too can hold our heads high and resolve the skills shortages that prompted this skilled migration program in the first place. I urge all parties to continue their negotiations and resolve these matters as soon as possible. Then everyone can get on with their jobs.