Employers Warned Over 457 Visa Abuse

PRLog (Press Release) – Dec 17, 2007 – 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.

Source: The Age Newspaper

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The Age Newspaper

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