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Issue No. 305 | 05 May 2006 |
Contract With Australia
Interview: Out of the Bedroom Industrial: Cloak and Dagger Unions: Lockout! Legal: The Fantasy of Choice Politics: Labor Pains Economics: Economics and the Public Purpose Corporate: House of Horrors History: Clash Of Cultures International: Childs Play Culture: Folk You Mate! Review: Last Holeproof Hero
Plant Fission for Cost Savings Aussie Bushman Pronounced Dead Unmask the Puppeteers, Union Demands King of Onkaparinga Cries Poor
The Soapbox The Locker Room Parliament
Labor Council of NSW |
News Aussie Bushman Pronounced Dead
�Rural workers were once able to make a living in shearing, grain handling, fencing and the like, but the conditions, the pay and the continuity just isn't there anymore,� said Mick Madden from the Australian Workers Union.
"Now, skilled and dangerous jobs are being done by backpackers and guest workers. "The worst thing we ever did in this country was give farmers convicts, ever since then they've expected free labour."
Madden has slammed moves to use backpackers in the shearing industry, where there is a shortage of workers.
"In the early 90s there were over 4,000 shearers in New South Wales, now there'd be lucky to be 400," said Madden. "The industry is crying out for shearers because when the rains come and the wool price goes up, there will not be enough shearers to get the wool off.
"Instead of training young people for these jobs the federal government and the Farmers Federation have turned to cheap labour.
"Why should young people from working families in regional Australia who are trying to get a start in life be ignored, while overseas backpackers from wealthy families are given drinking money."
Madden said the suggestion to use backpackers as shearers was laughable and showed how out of touch the National Party and the Farmers Federation was with the realities of hard work
"It takes three to four years to train a shearer, two to three to even earn more money than a roustabout," said Madden.
Madden pointed to the fruit industry, where backpackers have broken down safety conditions, rates of pay and accommodation standards.
"There needs to be award rates of pay," said Madden. "As we've seen from the Beaconsfield tragedy, there needs to be union run safety inductions. In the rural sector there isn't even informal safety inductions.
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