Increasing minimum wages of guest workers will end cheap labour jibes

The Federal Government should be praised for today’s announcement that they will increase the minimum wages of guest workers – after a more than two year hiatus, AWU National Secretary, Paul Howes, said.

" If Australians are to accept increased numbers of guest workers then we need to maintain a transparent program which ensures guest workers are not being brought into our country as a form of cheap labour," Paul Howes said.

"Our union supports a guest worker program based on sound principles. We will continue to talk with the Federal Government about how we best protect the rights of these workers to ensure they are treated decently and with respect.

"Ensuring that the guest workers have the same rights as Australians to join a union will be important to help maintain the integrity and transparency of the guest worker program," Paul Howes said.

"Unfortunately under the previous Government we had a clear sense that the guest worker program was being used to drag down wages and undermine the working conditions of Australians.

"Trust in the integrity of the then Federal Government's program was undermined because they refused to improve the guest worker wage rate for more than two years.

"The many reports of the mistreatment of guest workers, who came under the Howard Government's program, and the several legal cases providing lurid details of how vulnerable people were abused, undermined the Australian electorate's support for this program.

"The continuing strong growth of jobs in key areas of the Australian economy means to avoid skill shortages we must bring in guest workers so we do not to hurt some of our most import export dollar earners.

"But we can only continue to do this if we base the program on fairness and decency, the Australian tradition of a fair go for all," Paul Howes said.