Australian Organization Favors End to Migrant Worker Abuse

It’s no secret that migrant workers are often exploited and paid less overseas in almost every leading immigration destination with Australia being no exception. But the good news is that the governments of the different destinations are aware of it and wish to bring an end to it. What’s more heartening is that several organizations too wish to bring a stop to this negative thing.

Perhaps with this thought in mind, the Migration Institute of Australia (MIA) is reportedly keen that more must be done to end migrant worker abuse in the country--particularly with regards to the worker safeguards in trade agreements.

The body is reportedly asking every political group, presently actively campaigning in the run up to the coming July general elections, to commit to vigorously working to end migrant worker abuse. As per the MIA national president, the constant exploitation of such employees is both objectionable and against the Australian values.

Her observations come against the backdrop of yet another probe that revealed how manpower from abroad ends up being paid less than the lowest salary. Allegedly, many Chinese construction site employees in Down Under--under the Subcategory 400 Visa given as component of the China Australia Free Trade Agreement--were being given less.

There were also fears related to the issue of safety on sites and questions related to the actual unavailability of the Australian labor force to fill the specialist jobs such staff were offered visas to do.

According to the MIA national president, the latest media reports have all over again revealed that not much is being done to bring an end to the issue of migrant worker misuse in the nation. This is a big human rights matter in Oz even as every political group must throw their weight behind the cause of ending the migrant worker exploitation.

She added that the knee-jerk reactions to the subject every time the media reports on a fresh case of migrant worker abuse are just not good enough.

Reportedly, the MIA has sent across a letter to every well-known political party chief calling on them to commit their party to ending the migrant worker misuse ahead of the election on July 02. It states that it entirely supports the existing safeguards for the Australian manpower and the work of Fair Work Ombudsman and Fair Work Commission, and that more requires to be duly done to certify that migrant labor force have the identical access to these protections, which comprises writing them into the nation’s trade agreements with other countries.

She elucidated that trade agreements have become a vital component of the Australian economy and will keep on being so in future. But, it will be better if the economic gains of such agreements to the nation do not expose employees’ safeguards.

She also indicated that Oz will have a requirement for trained migrant workers for as ever long there is a scarcity amongst the nation’s own residents, and to stock up and build the Australian workforce troubled with the challenges of an ageing populace.

It is the moral and principled responsibility of Canberra to treat its migrant labor force with the graciousness and reverence any other Australian employee would look forward to in the place of work, she continued.