The Official Organ of LaborNET
click here to view the latest edition of Workers Online
The Official Organ of LaborNET
Free home delivery
Issue No. 327 06 October 2006  
E D I T O R I A L

The Road to Bangalore
A funny thing is happening as the major corporations plan their latest heist on the Australian public � the off shoring of an estimated two million white collar jobs to low cost countries like India.

F E A T U R E S

Interview: Cowboys and Indians
Finance Sector Union national secretary Paul Schroder is standing between the big banks and a bucket of money.

Industrial: Seven Deadly Sins
Chris Christodoulou gives seven reasons why WorkChoices is bad for business

Unions: The IT Factor
The future of Australian IT looks grim as big companies lead the rush to India and China, writes Jackie Woods.

Politics: Bargain Basement
Simple principles of democracy underpin the ACTU's collective bargaining proposal, insists ACTU Secrteary Greg Combet.

Environment: An Inconvenient Hoax
Al Gore may be warning of climate breakdown, but what hope the truth when he's up against such a well-oiled machine? asks Paul Sheridan

Corporate: Two Sides
Bilateral trade agreements are a good idea � just ask the US multinationals. The rest of us should strongly disagree says Pat Ranald

International: Unfair Dismissals
Nearly 10,000 workers were fired for their trade union activities in 2005, an annual trade union survey shows.

History: A Stitch in Time
Neale Towart takes some lessons from female textile workers while considering the case for recognition ballots.

Review: The Wind that Shakes the Barley
A film charting the turmoil of the Irish war for independence against British occupation during the 1920s might seem an odd choice for top honours at the Cannes Film Festival in 2006.

N E W S

 OWS Blesses Tassie Plunder

 Feds Knew About Wage Slashing

 Data Farmers' Bitter Harvest

 Umpire Delivers to Posties

 It's a Goal - Compass Out-Pointed

 Childcare Giant Goes Union

 Meat Head Jumps The Queue

 AWAs � Thanks a Million

 Vets� Fight On

 TB Threat From FoC Ship

 Hamberger in Cancer Blue

 AMWU Challenges Forced Deportation

 Let�s Dance � Andrews Get Hot

 Legal Centres Under Threat

 Activists Notebook

C O L U M N S

Parliament
The Westie Wing
Ian West takes a walk around the backyard with the Prime Minister�

The Soapbox
Rise Up
Hugo Chavez's explosive address to the United Nations

Culture
The Fear Factor
A new analysis of the history of fear takes us from the war on terror all the way to the modern workplace.

L E T T E R S
WHAT YOU CAN DO
About Workers Online
Latest Issue
Print Latest Issue
Previous Issues
Advanced Search

other LaborNET sites

Labor Council of NSW
Vic Trades Hall Council
IT Workers Alliance
Bosswatch
Unions on LaborNET
Evatt Foundation


Labor for Refugees

BossWatch



News

AMWU Challenges Forced Deportation


The AMWU is spearheading the fight to save a Chinese guest worker, who broke his arm at a Melbourne packaging plant, from deportation.

AMWU lawyers have filed a complaint with the Equal Opportunities Commission Victoria, alleging Lakeside Packaging discriminated against Zhihong Fu on the grounds of serious injuries he sustained at work.

Fu was forced to return to work after breaking his right wrist in a fall and claimed that injury led to him spraining his right arm when he was unable to properly control a drill.

Fu stopped work on his doctor's orders and Lakeside Packaging responded by sacking him and notifying him he would be deported within 28 days.

The 49-year-old was earning thousands of dollars a year less than the $41,000 minimum prescribed under the federal government's 457 visa program.

At the time of his dismissal he hadn't earned barely half the $A27,000 it cost him to get a 457 visa in Shanghai.

AMWU Victorian secretary, Dave Oliver, said lack of monitoring invited employers to abuse the controversial skilled immigration scheme.

"The federal government is to blame for Zhihong Fu's mistreatment," Oliver said.

"It assisted Lakeside Packaging to bring him here and its failure to police the scheme invites unscrupulous employers to exploit and mistreat people like Mr Fu."

AMWU print division secretary, Jim Reid, said the union was aware of many overseas workers being illegally charged "tens of thousands of dollars" for visas.

Fu Zhihong approached the AMWU after hearing media publicity about its support for a countryman who had been ripped off in Melbourne.

Oliver said it was "plain wrong" to import a worker into Australia and then deport him because he was injured on the job.

The federal government, last week, announced oversight of skilled immigration would be further loosened by outsourcing skills assessments to countries of origin.


------

*   View entire issue - print all of the articles!

*   Issue 327 contents



email workers to a friend printer-friendly version latest breaking news from labornet


Search All Issues | Latest Issue | Previous Issues | Print Latest Issue

© 1999-2002 Workers Online
Workers Online is a resource for the Labour movement
provided by the Labor Council of NSW
URL: http://workers.labor.net.au/327/news92_deport.html
Last Modified: 06 Oct 2006

Powered by APT Solutions
Labor Council of NSW Workers Online
LaborNET