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  Issue No 46 Official Organ of LaborNet 17 March 2000  

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News

Illegal immigrants Working Next Door to PM

By HT Lee

Building workers have uncovered shonky immigration scams involving the employment and exploitation of illegal immigrants in the industry.

The union marched on the Prime Minister's Sydney offices today claiming illegal immigrants were working on a building site next doot to the government offices.

The Federal Department of Immigration is investigating this scam -- illegal workers being flown into Australia on commercial flights. The Federal Police is also looking into the whole matter.

Two subcontractors at the Piano Building site in Phillip Street right next door to Prime Minister John Howard's Sydney Ministrial office were invoved in the scam. The workers were being paid less than 50 per cent of union rates. Payroll tax and workers compensation premiums were also not paid.

The Howard Government claimed in Parliament yesterday the CFMEU was exaggerating the extent of the problem of illegal labour in the Sydney construction industry.

But CFMEU state secretary Andrew Ferguson says the numbers speak louder than words-there are over 30 illegals found so far.

Ferguson says the Government needs to act now to stop the systematic exploitation of vulnerable people and the undercutting of Australians wages and conditions.

'The Government snipes from Canberra while the problem the union has identified continues. We can find illegals right next door to where the Prime Minister works in Sydney, why can't the Government find them?'

Deaths Led to Scam Being Uncovered

The CFMEU uncovered the rackets when investigating the tiling sector following the death of Korean worker Lee Soo Chul. It was discovered Lee was an illegal migrant and had worked for shonky body hire companies which paid no superannuation nor insurance benefits (CTAS) to their illegal workers and therefore there was no death benefit entitlement for the workers.

The body hire companies involved in the scams include Fixton Marble & Granite, and Tae Sung. They were paying their workers less than 50% of union rates. Payroll tax and workers compensation premiums were also not paid.

Ferguson said: 'The CFMEU and its members cannot condone illegal immigrants. However, the main enemy is the builders and the bosses who use and exploit illegals to undermine union rates of pay and conditions.'

The body hire companies were supplying labour to Royal Tiles, Deemah Marble & Granite, JJStonetech and Saba Bros which in turn were working as subcontractors on the following sites: Baulderstone (Chippendale); Multiplex (Wharf 9 & 10); Lend Lease (Macquarie Towers); Lend Lease (Jackson Landing); Toga (Central); Hanson Yunken (Sussex Street); Walter Construction (Jamieson Street); and Southern Cross (Pyrmont).

Bans in Place

The CFMEU has since imposed work bans on those sites until all related matters have been resolved.

The subcontractors involved have agreed to pay $110,000 to the widow of the worker. The money will be presented by the CFMEU to Mr Lee's 12 year old son and his wife who has a heart condition. They have also agreed to pay other workers back pay amounting to $400,000. The money paid has been deducted by the subcontractors from monies they owed the body hire companies.

'Bosses ripping off the system will be hit hard with all workers' back pay recovered. The end result will be many of these shonky operators will be put out of business,' Ferguson said.

According to Ferguson the CFMEU will also be fining employers breaking the law with the money given to charity to fight poverty in third world countries.

'Unfortunately people from poorer countries are desperate to enter this country to find work and get a better standard of living.

'These fines will help a little and teach unscrupulous bosses a lesson.


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*   Issue 46 contents

In this issue
Features
*  Interview: Bob Carr�s Awful Truth
The NSW Premier on Laborism, factions and why the Cabinet Office isn't running the state.
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*  Unions: The Stellar Experiment
The agenda for the future job-shedding program by Telstra has been revealed via it's bastard child, Stellar.
*
*  Technology: Roboboss is Watching You
Behind the hype of the information age is a sinister side where workplace surveillance robs employees of all privacy and dignity. Sometimes, though, it provides welcome security.
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*  International: Kiwi Reforms To Spark Union Revival
The head of the New Zealand trade union movement is optimistic that workers will come back to unions once a fair industrial relations framework is put in place.
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*  Politics: Ethical Politics and the Clinton Affair
The vote by the US House of Representatives in December, 1998 on whether to impeach President Bill Clinton could be regarded as a debate about the acceptability of dirty-handed politics.
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*  History: Living Library
Sydney�s Mitchell Library archives house some of the most extensive records of our political heritage.
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*  Satire: Reconciliation, Aussie Style
The majority of Austrlaians want Aboriginals to adopt �our� values: �Why can�t they be ignorant racists too?�
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*  Review: Casino Oz
Laurie Aarons' new book puts the spotlight on the growing gap being the rich and the poor.
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News
»  Carr Vows to Move on Casuals
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»  NSW Government in Hot Seat Over Individual Contracts
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»  Telstra Troubleshooter Bombs Stellar
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»  Illegal immigrants Working Next Door to PM
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»  Education Department Hit By Massive Fine
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»  Victims Comp Changes Exclude Traumatised Worker
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»  SOCOG Agrees: Ceremonies Not an Eisteddfod
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»  Senate Guts 'Ships from Hell' Bill
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»  Campaigners Seek Dissident Web Domains
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Columns
»  The Soapbox
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»  The Locker Room
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»  Trades Hall
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»  Tool Shed
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Letters to the editor
»  The Real Big Fella
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»  That's It For Labor
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»  Join Australia's Gas Out
*
»  Tribute to Jennie
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