31 January 2005 Illegal workers arrested on Girraween building site Five illegal workers have been arrested after they were discovered working on a building site in Girraween during a recent series of raids by the Department of Immigration. The Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union has said that these latest arrests are just the tip of the iceberg, and estimates that there are several thousands illegal workers on building sites around Australia, and that as the industries skills shortage worsens that figure will grow. CFMEU Organiser Greg Cummings said that the number of illegal workers being found in the industry was a real concern as they took the employment opportunities of local young people, as well as jeopardising safety and the quality of workmanship due to their inadequate training. “The CFMEU is constantly being approached by young people looking for an apprenticeship or a job in the building industry that just can’t find any work, and yet there are an increasing number of dodgy companies employing illegal workers who will work for almost nothing,” he said. “What is most disturbing is that the offending companies are rarely prosecuted for employing these workers, and when the government does act the punishment is laughable. “If the Howard Government is serious about giving young Australians opportunities and about cracking down on the tens of thousands of illegal workers in the country it needs to make sure these law breaking employers receive serious punished to deter other companies. “It is disgraceful because these companies pay these illegal workers in cash, they pay no tax, there are no workers compensation policies, no superannuation, no training, and inadequate safety gear. “Working on this one house were three Malaysians, one Taiwanese man and one Chinese man, but this situation is not unique, and the industry is slowly being swamped as more builders are forced to follow suit because they just can’t compete with the low prices companies employing illegals offer. The house at 23 Oramzi Street Girraween is being constructed by an owner builder, Joe Halibi, and all five illegal workers were the employees of Sun Yin Chen, a subcontractor on the site. Media contact: Tim Vollmer (CFMEU Media Officer) 0404 273 313 Greg Cummings (CFMEU Organiser) 0408 883 047   [ more news ]