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  Issue No 86 Official Organ of LaborNet 02 March 2001  

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News

StoneTemple Pirate Outrage Hits Canberra


The eight Indian temple workers whose plight has plunged the working visa system into crisis will take their plight to the national capital this week as the Immigration Minister faces legal action.

The Labor Council of NSW is seeking legal advice on suing Phillip Ruddock and his Department for underpayment of wages to the Indian stonemasons, found this week to be working for as little as $45 cash per month.

The workers were being paid $45 per month, with another $100 being sent home to India. They were not allowed to leave the worksite without permission and were receiving just one rostered day off each fortnight.

The workers themselves, whose situation was discovered by the CFMEU and the South Coast Labour Council have joined the CFMEU and walked off the job in a bid to recover hundreds of thousands of dollars in under payment.

But the Howard Government has been warned that if the sponsoring employer - who imported the stonemason to build a Hindu Temple at Helensburgh - could not find the money - the Minister could be forced to foot the bill himself.

Legal Advice

Labor Council Secretary Michael Costa says he believes the Department of Immigration could be liable for the underpayment because it had failed to meet a duty of care to the workers, brought in on temporary working visas.

"Our belief is that it is up to the federal Department of Immigration to test the bona fides of employers sponsoring foreign workers into the country," Costa says.

"Where this has not occurred, and visiting workers are consequently left with moneys owed, we will argue that the Minister and his Department are legally liable."

The advice is being sought as further examples of abuse of the working visa system come to light. It was revealed yesterday that Indonesian workers were being paid just $100 per week to work at the prestigious Regent Hotel as part of a 'training' program.

Employment Advocate's Role Questioned

Meanwhile, the role of the Office of the Employment Advocate has been questioned after the discovery of another group of workers building a separate Hindu temple near Canberra.

CFMEU officials have been trying to get access to the Canberra site for 18 months to inspect the records but have been turned away by the temple owner who produced a business card from an inspector from the Office of the Employment Advocate.

In the wake of this week's furore, an official was finally granted access yesterday, but an OEA inspector was on job within 15 minutes.

"It is clear that the temple owners are getting their advice from the OEA," CFMEU state secretary Andrew Ferguson says. "While Ruddock maintains this is not a federal issue, a separate federal department is giving employers advice on how to keep unions off the job."

Not a One Nation Issue

South Coast Labor Council secretary Arthur Rorris addressed Labour Council last night and introduced the eight Indian workers, paying tribute to their courage in coming forward on the issue.

Rorris, who has been running the issue hard in the Illawarra, warned that the issue must be handled sensitively or become fodder for One Nation.

"We need to keep making the point that these are not illegal immigrants, they are here legally and they are being exploited by unscrupulous Australian companies" Rorris says.

A rally in support of the temple workers is planned for Friday March 9. venue and details to be confirmed. See LaborNet for further details.


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*   View entire issue - print all of the articles!

*   Issue 86 contents

In this issue
Features
*  Interview: Master of Opposition
Over the past five years, John Faulkner has turned the Senates Estimates structure into his own House of Pain. He explains the art of Opposition.
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*  Politics: Beazley the Bridge Builder?
As the Howard Government flounders, Brett Evans looks at the challenges Kim Beazley faces as his hour of destiny approaches.
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*  Unions: Lashing & Loathing at Patricks
Three years since one of the Howard Government�s most infamous episodes, the Waterfront War, Zoe Reynolds discovers how casuals are now doing the doing the dirty work on the docks.
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*  Legal: Workers Without Rights
Mark Morey outlines the legal status and (lack of) rights for foreigners in Australia on working visas.
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*  International: Dispatch from the Dispossessed
Mahendra Chaudhry, Leader of the People's Coalition and the Fiji Labour Party comments on this week�s court decision.
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*  Economics: Business Power and Mobility
The US election season makes it patently clear how Big Business is able to transform its financial resources into political power via campaigncontributions.
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*  History: The Spoilers and the Split
The Movement, Groupers, the DLP and The Doc. All have been blamed in various ways for the ALP split in the 1950s, ensuring the ALP was kept out of federal government until 1972. Can One Nation return the favour?
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*  Review: The New Hard Politics
Dennis Glover argues that policy has taken over from spin as the political battleground of the new century.
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*  Satire: Bradman Latest: Family In Dramatic Court Action
The family of the late Sir Donald Bradman yesterday sought a restraining order against Prime Minister John Howard after it became apparent that he wants to be involved in every single detail of the The Don's funeral.
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News
»  StoneTemple Pirate Outrage Hits Canberra
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»  Five Star Exploitation at Regent
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»  Workers Say: We Deserve Better
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»  Carr Called on Ten Year Temps
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»  National Textiles Workers Struggling 12 Months On
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»  MUA Prosecutes Patrick for Crippling Workers
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»  Test Case: Is Redundancy a Universal Right?
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»  Who Pays for the Public Works?
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»  Seven-day Strike at Five BHP Mines
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»  Chubb Cuts Place Security Guards at Risk
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»  Vic Employers Support New IR Laws
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»  Lock-Out Tactics Poison Neighbourhood
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»  Shangri-La: Lawyers Take Over from Thugs
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»  Daewoo Workers See The Ugly Face Of Globalisation
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»  Labour Wings to Meet in Macquarie Street
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»  Costa Kisses the Rings
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»  Meat Workers Dropped from the Queue for Q Fever Vaccine
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»  Activists Notebook
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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
»  About Scabs
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»  Pauline Wrong on Nurses
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»  Banks: Time for Pay Back
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»  Pardons in Perspective
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»  What Man's Burden?
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