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Growers look to retain piece rate work despite union push for minimum wages
Australian growers are pushing back against union moves to see minimum wage rates granted to fruit pickers and seasonal workers. The Australian Workers Union (AWU) announced on Wednesday that it would apply to the Fair Work Commission (FWC) to have the horticulture award amended to ensure workers received the minimum casual wage of $24.80 an hour.
According to AWU national secretary Daniel Walton, growing evidence of systemic underpayments through the use of shady labour-hire firms showed minimum conditions for workers needed to be nailed down in law. But grower advocacy group FNQ Growers said putting a floor price under the piece rate in which workers are paid according to the amount of fruit or vegetables they pick effectively made it the same as an award rate.
21:40 EDT, 14 December 2020
The twin sons of New South Wales Labor MP Steve Kamper have been charged with assault ten months after an alleged late-night incident involving a taxi driver.
Nicholas and Christopher Kamper, both 25, were charged with common assault in November connected to the alleged altercation in the early hours of January 18, 2020 at Wolli Creek in south Sydney.
Nicholas was served with a court attendance notice on November 3, while Christopher received a notice on November 13, court documents state, the St George Shire Standard reported.
It s unclear why there was a 10 month delay between the alleged assault and charges being laid.
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AWU moves to close loophole allowing farms to get away with paying $3/hour
The Australian Workers’ Union has today moved to close the industrial loophole that allows farms to pay vulnerable workers a fraction of the award rate.
The union will today apply to the Fair Work Commission to amend the Horticulture Award to guarantee that every worker on every farm is entitled to take home the minimum casual rate of pay – $24.80 per hour.
Currently, farms can dodge this minimum rate through ‘piecework’ arrangements, under which workers are paid depending on the quantity of fruit picked or vegetables harvested. Manipulation of this system has led to widespread incidences of workers getting paid as little as $3 per hour, as revealed most recently in the McKell Institute’s landmark Blue Harvest report.
A series of inquiries and reports have exposed exploitation in the fruit-picking industry, which is staffed largely by offshore labour including Pacific Islanders and backpackers.
Last week, a report by the McKell Institute, commissioned by the AWU, found some blueberry pickers were being paid as little as $3 an hour, and alleged systematic wage theft by labour hire firms the union says now dominate the industry.
Walton said the industry was rife with problems including physical violence, harassment and passports being taken away from overseas workers.
“It’s become the centrepiece for exploitation in this country,” he said.
He said the minimum pay rate would stop growers ripping off workers by reducing the piece rate when work was easier – something he said he saw on a visit to a blueberry farm.