Australian unions are turning out to be at the forefront of the fight for OFWs brought into Australia under the Liberal government’s notorious S457 visa scheme. Filipino migrant workers in turn are making history in Australian labour records.
BY ANIBETH DESIERTO
MIGRANTE AUSTRALIA
Contributed to Bulatlat
COMMENTARY
Vol. VII, No. 42, November 25-December 1, 2007
In face of the more than a decade of government and state attack on Australian labour unions, two important developments are emerging.
Australian unions are turning out to be at the forefront of the fight for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) brought into Australia under the Liberal government’s notorious S457 visa scheme. The unions’ battle for OFWs is occurring amid lukewarm reception by others of migrant workers, criticized as taking jobs away from Australian workers.
Filipino migrant workers (or OFWs) in turn are making history in Australian labour records.
The recent establishment of the Filipino Metalworkers within the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) in WA which is giving a voice to workers on temporary visas within the union is the first of its kind in Australian unionism.
OFW members of the AMWU in the Filipino Metalworkers group- forming part of AMWU’s South Metro District Committee S457 Filipino Sub- Committee – intend to run for positions in the union’s State Council and State Conference which will then give OFWs a temporary visa holders’ voice in the union’s decision-making bodies.
All State Council and Conference delegates are of permanent residency status (PR) and the OFWs in running for these positions will be breaking the mould.
The Committee’s formation is also a first for the AMWU WA Branch and has given the Branch a new perspective on organizing as the union movement nationally tries to shift away from the servicing model which has arguably contributed to declining membership.
Of 700 OFW metal tradesmen in Perth, the AMWU (WA) has recruited 218 as members in only 10 months in 31 enterprises including those in fabrication, heavy engineering, plastic manufacturing, shipbuilding and factory maintenance.
“We’ve been using non-traditional methods of recruitment which is lots of work of up to four nights a week, probably all weekends – however, the approach has been accepted and encouraged,” AMWU organizer Joel Asphar says.
“Instead of a workplace approach during which we visit worksites to address workers’ grievances, we’ve taken a more community-oriented approach, literally living with the community – visiting houses, going to their parties, churches, sports events, even playing basketball with them.”
According to the trade union centre Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU or May 1st Movement) in the Philippines, this method is also the common practice of organizing workers in the Philippines given the hostility of big employers against unions and the severe repression of workers and workers’ representatives by the Philippine government.
AMWU’s Joel Asphar adds, “We’ve been agitating around one issue only which has been the deportation threats against the S457’s/OFWs and because we’ve been able to stop these deportations and the guys now know what their rights are, our campaign focus has now changed to the issue of residency for our OFW members.”
Asphar says the AMWU had initially received lots of complaints from their Australian members and some from Filipino workers that the OFWs and S457 visa workers were being paid less than their Australian counterparts and faced deportation threats from their employers.
On further investigation, the AMWU found out that OFWs thought they had no rights at all, could not question their working conditions nor join a union and believed employers could deport S457 visa workers whenever they wished to.
The AMWU’s campaign to help S457 visa workers gained momentum as more and more cases of OFWs suffering maltreatment and abuse at the hands of employers were brought to the union’s attention.
Initially reluctant to trust any union, many of the OFWs have benefited from the AMWU’s critical assistance and protection.
Many of the OFWs grievances have been successfully resolved by the AMWU, winning disputes with employers and finding jobs for sacked OFWs.
This assistance and strong advocacy has earned for the AMWU the trust and regard of otherwise traditionally union-phobic Filipino workers – another historical milestone since these workers would probably never join a union if they had stayed in the Philippines most likely for fear of being terminated by their employer.
“We found that the guys had a deep mistrust for all things political back home in the Philippines including unions; most OFWs we came across have the perspective that the unions at home were too ideological and even corrupt so it was very hard to earn their initial trust,” Asphar says. “We concluded that this attitude towards unions grew out of a climate of severe political and union repression and also eventually, those OFW supporters of Philippine unions would come forward and their enthusiasm for these unions far outweighed any criticisms. So to counter the deep mistrust of all things political from the OFWs’ experiences in the Philippines, we try not to politicize the issues and instead focus on the members’ work and life issues.”
Asphar credits AMWU’s success with OFWs in WA also to the help of the locals, the Kwinana-Rockingham Districts Filipino-Australian Association, Migrante Perth and the expatriate Filipino community in bridging the culture gap.
Serious cases of maltreatment and abuse of OFWs in their worksites referred to the AMWU by Migrante Perth have also resulted in at least one case of court prosecution of the offending employer whose Filipino workers were recruited through the S457 visa scheme.
The scheme, infamous for its exploitative nature affecting workers, has arguably loosened the historically close monitoring and regulation of business practice regarding employer obligations to, and responsibility for workers and workers’ welfare.
The U.S. Department of State has said the Australian government’s S457 visa scheme has led to sex trafficking, debt bondage and slavery of migrants in Australia – in its “2007 Trafficking in Persons Report.”
“Australia has a proud tradition of migration and it is only this generation that has had to go through this temporary visa arrangement but despite this, our members will continue in their campaign to obtain permanent residency and continue this proud Australian tradition of migration,” Asphar says.
“I congratulate the guys (OFWs) for their courage in forming the Filipino Metalworkers – they are working together for strength as there’s no protection for temporary visa holders in Australia except among the workers themselves,” Asphar says, “and the AMWU WA branch will support them to the absolute end.” (Bulatlat.com)
