A recent inspection by the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) revealed that many foreign workers aboard ships working domestic routes in Australia are being exploited.
According to a recent statement by the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA), ship inspectors have identified “rampant wage theft” and “mistreatment of visa workers” during the ITF Week of Action.
The involved operators include offshore oil and gas ships in the North West of WA and luxury cruise ships travelling in Australian tropical waters, VisaGuide.World reports.
Inspectors have found an estimated USD$18 million in underpayments related to visa scams, as stated by the ITF President and National Secretary of MUA, Paddy Crumlin.
The ITF Australian Inspectorate identified an estimated $18 Million USD in underpayments associated with visa rorts in the expedition cruise ship and Offshore Oil and gas Industries, which represents roughly one-third of the estimated total of $60 Million USD that was identified through the Week of Action.
Migrant Worker Exploitation on Ships Attributed to Seafarer Shortage
The exploitation of migrant workers and the normalized wage theft aboard ships is attributed to a shortage of seafarers in Australia.
Moreover, Crumlin says that some companies refuse to help tackle the worker shortage by training new seafarers. According to him, these employers are choosing to hire overseas workers instead of recruiting local ones in order to benefit from foreigners by paying them less.
They have made the cold calculation that it is worth booting an Australian worker off the ship so they can bully a migrant worker into accepting a 50 percent pay cut.
ITF Urges Immediate Action from Federal Government
ITF has called on the government to take immediate action to end the exploitation of vulnerable workers and return Australian sailors to domestic shipping and tourism trips.
This type of corruption and manipulation of our employment and industrial laws to exploit vulnerable migrant workers is unconscionable, and those caught doing it must be pursued in the courts.
He further suggested that the Fair Work Ombudsman investigate and pursue these consistent exploitations and manipulations of Australia’s workplace and immigration legislation by major multinationals.
Australia Has Introduced World-First Workplace Justice Visa
The Australian government has recently introduced the Workplace Justice visa, which allows migrant workers to stay in the country for a specified period to pursue a workplace exploitation claim.
The new visa has been well received by several human rights advocates, who consider this a crucial step to end the mistreatment of migrant workers.