Another 457 “guest worker” has been found in Western Australia being paid $3 an hour, given ‘accommodation’ in a company workshop, and forced to take out a loan to cover his living expenses in Australia. The worker was paid the equivalent of a $6420 yearly salary, and was forced to sleep at the workshop of Kentwood Industries, a building products firm in Malaga north of Perth owned by Jim Zhang. The worker says his wages were withdrawn by his employer and paid into a Chinese account to be accessed by his family in China. He was not even allowed to access his own wages. While a bank account was arranged for him and he was shown a photocopy of a keycard, he was not given the PIN! If he wanted any money in Australia, he was forced to take out a loan with the company and pay it back through extra overtime. When the worker asked to be paid his correct salary he was sacked and evicted from the worksite where he had been living. Two more guest workers are believed to be still living in similar conditions at the workshop but have been too scared to come forward.
What is especially concerning is the fact that the case did not come to light until the worker approached the AMWU for help. As AMWU National Official, Dave Oliver remarked, “The workers who don’t come to the union and don’t end up in the paper or on TV, really have no protection at all.”
Sourced from AMWU webpage at http://www.amwu.asn.au/default.asp?action=LoadArticle&ID=2783
