Foreign Labour Used to Lower Wages Date: 01 August 2005
Attempts by Karrabin (near Ipswich) fabricator, Bradken Engineering, to justify its decision to hire up to 10 Philippine welders lack credibility and are designed to mask its real agenda of reducing the wages of skilled Australians, the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) said today.
AMWU assistant secretary, Peter Lees, said Bradken has distributed a two-page leaflet to its employees in the last few days trying to justify its decision to go to the Philippines in search of welders.
"This has inflamed the Bradken workforce and it is likely the workers will refuse to work with any foreign workers imported in this way and in these circumstances," Mr Lees said.
"The reality is Bradken's shortage of skilled-workers is self-inflicted by its failure to pay market rates for tradespeople. Bradken is as much as $70.00 per week below the market rate for tradespeople and it is now trying to import foreign labour, from low wage countries, to maintain those low wage rates.
"The AMWU and various labour hire companies have regularly warned Bradken about this, but the company has arrogantly pushed ahead with its wage cutting agenda. It is paying tradespeople, many of whom have to drive long distances to get to Karrabin, a miserable $19.20 per hour while many other companies, in more convenient locations, are paying between $20.50 and $22.00 per hour.
"Bradken has admitted to the AMWU during wage negotiations it is seeking a competitive advantage over other companies through these reduced wage rates. So it has only itself to blame for any skills shortage and should not be allowed to misuse the immigration system in this way. It should not be allowed to bring in foreign workers who it can push around and pay sub-standard pay rates.
"There are plenty of Australian tradespeople who would work for Bradken if it paid market rates. Only this week the AMWU learnt of a young Ipswich welder who applied for a job at Bradken about a month ago, but has not even received a response from the company.
"So here we have another glimpse of the future under John Howard's industrial relations changes. Big business holding down wage rates and importing workers from low wage countries to meet their workforce needs.
"If anyone had any doubt that the industrial relations changes, being pushed by the Howard Government and the business community, are about cutting Australian wages and making us compete with low-wage countries then they only have to look at what Bradken is doing out at Ipswich," Mr Lees said.
