//Foreword//
Australia's working holiday visa has always been very popular.
The minimum hourly wage is about 19 Australian dollars, which can meet daily expenses
and save some money for traveling in Australia.
But many people discovered after coming here that
the ideal is very plump but the reality is very skinny.
#01：
A Chinese woman works in Australia,
earns $4 an hour and is forced to dig through garbage
Recently, a woman from Taiwan, China’s working experience in Australia was exposed, For her, this working experience can be said to be like a nightmare …
(Photo source: News.au)
It is reported that after arriving in Australia with a working holiday visa, Kate Hsu, a Taiwanese worker, worked as an orange picker on a farm. The wages were horribly low, with an hourly wage of only 4 Australian dollars. .
This little money is not enough for daily expenses. She is forced to eat from public trash cans to survive.
(Image: News.au)
Hsu said he was a victim of the "piece rate" system, in which workers are paid based on the amount of fruit or vegetables picked during a shift.
Through a translator, she told about her experience working as a fruit picker in Renmark, South Australia:
" When my job was at its lowest, I only had $4 an hour. When I didn't have enough money, I would go to the supermarket. Searching for food in the trash. ”
Originally came to Australia with the intention of making money, but he did not expect to find himself in such a difficult situation. However, Hsu’s experience is not unique...
#02:
latest survey Report:
80% of workers are underpaid
Latest, a new report reveals disturbing rates of wage theft and exploitation.
The study found that the vast majority of Australia's fruit and vegetable pickers are victims of "wage theft", with nearly 80 per cent of 1,300 horticulture industry workers saying they had experienced being underpaid.
The investigation, jointly conducted by NSW Trade Unions and the Migrant Workers Center of Victoria, exposed the inhumane treatment of vulnerable overseas workers on temporary visas.
(Image source: News.au)
Unfortunately, the survey showed that experiences like Hsu’s are really all too common among these overseas workers.
The survey found that most piece-rate workers are underpaid, some earn only A$1 an hour, and only 2% earn a reasonable hourly wage of A$26.
Piece workers on grape and courgette farms had the lowest daily wages, earning an average of $9 a day, while workers on blueberry farms earned an average of $10 a day.
Mark Morey, secretary-general of the New South Wales Trade Union, said wage theft in the agricultural sector is "just a business model, and migrant workers' wages have always been below the minimum wage".
He said the horrific treatment was not just about being underpaid, with many overseas workers being left vulnerable because their employees had the power to influence their visa status.
" Sexual harassment, physical assault, frequent threats of 'if you don't like it, you can leave'. Many workers worked there for 88 days trying to extend their visas to a second year, thinking that they had to be exploited , but have no ability to resist such a situation.”
(Image source: Daily Mail)
Migrant Workers Center director Matt Kunkel said the survey proved that workers were eager to earn a living wage, but farm managers were engaging in rampant withholding of wages and blatant mistreatment of workers.
“ Many are also responsible for the injuries, discrimination, bullying, sexual assault and harassment suffered by workers. This is a disgraceful, inhumane and blatantly racist way to treat immigrant farmworkers. We are so dependent on them to pick the food to deliver to our tables, they also pay taxes in this country. ”
Matt has urged the federal government to take a series of urgent measures to deal with this catastrophic situation.
Morey also said he was disappointed with the common narrative from commentators and politicians, who all suggested that unemployed Australians were lazy and should go Fruit picking in other areas .
" Workers there told their friends and family what happened, working 9 to 12 hours a day without being paid minimum wage, and not only being exploited, but also being abused or violated.
All these stories will make you understand, why do you do that job when you know you will get low pay? ”
Finally
After the outbreak and border closure,
A large number of workers were lost,
A large number of fruits and vegetables in Australia were left unpicked,
The government has expressed that Australians are unwilling to do this job
The release plan allows Overseas workers arrive to fill vacancies,
even give Bonuses are provided and air tickets are included.
However, has the government ever thought that
locals are unwilling to do this job
entirely because they cannot get reasonable treatment.
If this can be improved through regulatory constraints,
there is no need to worry about the lack of workers. Come on...
