To Labourhire Inquiry.
14thFebruary 2016
I sent an email to you last month with some stories about Contractors . On a separate sheet I have retold these stories, but unfortunately some of the details are a bit vague.
I am a volunteer from St. Brendan's Catholic Church in Shepparton,and have been assisting Africans in practical ways since they first arrived in Shepparton10years ago. Work is very hard to get in the Shepparton area for unskilled people. lt seems the easiest work to get during the summer is with the Contractors . No Tax is deducted from their pay, and not always a certainty of actually getting paid at all.
Several years ago, workers could approach farmers/orchardists for work. They would be paid correctly, and have Tax deducted. This of course was a lot of work for the farmers,as for any business . It would seem much easier for the farmers to hand over the payment of workers to Contractors .
I hope that there is a good outcome from this inquiry.
Yours sincerely,
14th February 2016
To labourhire inquiry, Shepparton.
A young Congolese, Kipela, was hired by Tom (Tomafi?), I have been told that he also trades under the name of Dallas Contracting.Kipela worked on 1st and 2"d January as a Bucket Boy. Was told he would get $17 per hour. He did not take a lunch break even, and was owed $345 by the Contractor Tom (Tomafi?). He still has not been paid. I spoke to Tom, and he apparently worked under another Contractor Hasan. -r:om said it was not his job to pay the Bucket Boys, but Hasan's. Tom finally gave me Hasan's phone number, but Hasan said Tom is a lier. It is his job to pay this boy. Tom's phone number[REDACTED]Hasan[REDACTED].
Kipela told me that he knew that in Australia that if he works,he should pay taxes, so he told Tom that he would keep working if Tom took out the Tax., but Tom said he would not do that.
Another Congolese/Burundi, lady Solange, said she is also owed money by Tom.
These Contractors are mystery people. They are only known by their Christian name, and workers are lucky if they even have their phone numbers.
A Sudanses lady and her two teenage daughters, who only arrived in Australia in November, were put onto a Contractor, Ane[REDACTED],by friends . The first day of picking, I presume ripe tomatoes were scarce. It took the three of them all day to pick one bin between them. They were to be paid $65, but the Contractor deducted $10 each for transport to the farm, so between them
they earned $30. The Sudanese lady did some more work for this Contractor. She said she was owed for one bin and 11buckets, approximately $90. Ane disagreed, but apparently has since paid about half this amount.
Another Congolese man told me he would not work for the Contractors, as he wanted a job where he paid Tax.
Another young man I know works for Visy VadPak 305 Grahamvale Road, Grahamvale[REDACTED] There are only 5 or 6 workers paid directly by the company . For the past few years, this company has also used an Indian Contractor to employ the extra staff needed over the busy period. Last year
one of the workers under the Contractor said to the first young man "Why do you work for the boss?
If you worked for the Contractor, you get paid cash and still collect Centrelink." More recently, during a lunch time break, other workers under the Contractor said they never paid Tax since coming to Australia! ltmakes it very hard for those who are trying to do the right thing.
A few days ago I met Angela[REDACTED] She told me about she and her partner Trevor [REDACTED]. They come from Queensland, and work up and down the East Coast picking fruit & vegies. They were employed by Joe, a Malaysian Contractor, who apparently worked out of Miners Pick Caravan Park 150 Neill St. Rushworth. Caravan Park Phone[REDACTED].They were picking tomatoes in Springvale Road, between Rushworth and Tatura, at Gate 4,5 and 7, but she could not remember the name of the property. They were getting paid $68 per bin, and worked for a week . At the end of the week, they asked Joe for a Taw form. Joe just told them to get off the farm. When they asked him about the$2200 they were owed, he just said "There is not pay". They had to go to a charity last week to get
food and fuel to get them through the week until they get paid from a new Contractor who does the right thing. They were hoping to go to Fair Trade to report Joe.
Then there are the zucchini growers in Chanel Road and Central Avenue,Shepparton East. Happy and Lucky, who I believe trade as Khakh, which is stamped on their bins, certainly know how to grow zucchini. About 4 or 5 years ago Itook some young Africans out there each day to work. The boss said he only wanted people on Youth or Student Allowance . He did not pay the workers for two or three months. He said he did not have the money at the start of the season .,as it cost so much to set up and the grow the vegetables .
I spoke to someone who is working for Lucky,and he pays once a month I believe. They get paid $14 per hour. The man I spoke to said that Lucky is also using Contractors now to get workers.
I do hope this inquiry is successful in sorting out the problems in this industry.