The Australian government has announced new changes to the 457 visa category, one of the main categories for migrant workers entering Australia. These changes will not safeguard workers’ wages and conditions, as the government claims, instead, these changes are designed to further undermine the ability of migrant workers to organise and get paid appropriately. There have been numerous and continuing cases of migrant workers being exploited by their employers, see here, here and here. Only by granting permanent residence status and increasing penalties on employers that wilfully underpay migrant workers will these practices be stop and we need strong unions to achieve this.
The Australian government has announced new changes to the 457 visa category, one of the main categories for migrant workers entering Australia. These changes will not safeguard workers’ wages and conditions, as the government claims, instead, these changes are designed to further undermine the ability of migrant workers to organise and get paid appropriately. There have been numerous and continuing cases of migrant workers being exploited by their employers, see here, here and here. Only by granting permanent residence status and increasing penalties on employers that wilfully underpay migrant workers will these practices be stop and we need strong unions to achieve this.
