Importing workers ‘a stunning betrayal’, says Electrical Trades Union

A union has accused the Albanese government of a ‘stunning act of betrayal’ for signing off on a ­labour migration agreement that it says will see 400 temporary visa workers brought to Australia.

Immigration Minister Andrew Giles. Picture: AAP

A union has accused the Albanese government of a “stunning act of betrayal” for signing off on a ­labour migration agreement that it says will see 400 temporary visa workers brought to Australia to work on the ­nation’s biggest electricity transmission project for “cut-price wages”.

Vowing to bring the fight to a head on the floor of the looming ALP national conference, Electrical Trades Union NSW secretary Allen Hicks said Immigration Minister Andrew Giles should “hang his head in shame” for rewarding bad employer behaviour by his “disgraceful” approval of the agreement.

According to the union, the overseas workers will be paid hourly rates of $35 and $45, in line with the $39 base rate for overseas workers but at least $10 an hour below the $55 industry standard.

The $2.3bn EnergyConnect electricity interconnector is a 700km transmission line being built between Wagga Wagga in NSW and Robertstown in South Australia, with a connection to Red Cliffs in Victoria, connecting grids across the three states. Mr Hicks said the labour ­migration agreement sought by project principal contractor Green Light Contractors “baked” in ­exploitation of workers by codifying the company‘s ability to pay workers $10 less per hour than the current workforce.

“This is an extraordinary act of betrayal from a Labor government,” Mr Hicks said. “This is a disgraceful move from Minister Giles, who should hang his head in shame. His rhetoric on migrant workers does not match his ­actions. He has today rubber-stamped workplace inequality based on visa status.”

The ETU recently secured a Federal Court injunction to allow union organisers to hold discussions with 60 mostly skilled ­migrant linesmen working on the project.

Mr Hicks said organisers had been obstructed from talking to workers about their workplace rights and, more recently, the union had discovered “serious allegations of underpayments and work health and safety breaches”.

“This is the very definition of rewarding bad employer behaviour. It is a kick in the guts to everyone who believes in workplace decency,” he said.

“This country was built on ­migrant labour, but migration of this scale should be permanent and the workers must have the ­capacity to enforce the same rights and receive the same pay as Australian citizens, and employers who want to access migrant ­labour must first demonstrate a commitment to training local Australian workers.

“We have genuine concerns about the safety of these workers, and the labour migration agreement does not mitigate the union’s concerns.”

ETU national secretary ­Michael Wright said the union was outraged by the decision.

“The government was fully aware that this company wants ­access to 400 migrant workers but has not committed to employ a single Australian apprentice on this project. It beggars belief that it would be signed off anyway,” he said.

“The ETU will use every political, legal and industrial tool at its disposal to ensure this is the last rotten deal.”

In a statement on Wednesday night, Mr Giles said: “The government understands that it’s not a ­binary choice between migration and skilling up Australians. Skilled migration is part of the solution to delivering this major project for Australia’s energy sector, and ­deliver almost 1000 permanent jobs in our regions.”

In a five-page letter to the ­Department of Home Affairs, Mr Wright detailed a raft of concerns about the company’s alleged conduct and the proposed agreement.