By DALCY LULUA
PAPUA New Guinea’s trade unions have called for stronger government action to protect and represent Papua New Guinean workers participating in Australia’s Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) and New Zealand’s Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) schemes.
PNG Nurses Association Vice President Esther Pisoro said labour mobility must be more than simply sending workers overseas, stressing that workers must return safely, receive their lawful entitlements and be treated with dignity.
“Labour mobility must be more than sending workers overseas. We must ensure that every worker returns safely, receives their lawful entitlements and works in conditions that provide dignity and protection,” Pisoro said.
She raised concerns about insecure employment arrangements, unexplained wage deductions, overcrowded accommodation, isolation, limited welfare support, health and safety issues and difficulties accessing effective grievance and representation mechanisms.
Public Employees Association General Secretary Ugwalubu Mowana said the association was disappointed with the treatment of some PNG workers in Australia.
“We want to state that right now we are quite disappointed that our people working in Australia are not given fair treatment,” Mowana said.
He said the association had video footage showing migrant workers living in overcrowded conditions, with several workers reportedly sleeping in small rooms.
“They are crowded in a little room and they are sleeping there. Their wages are taken off and some of them can’t use the take-home pay to manage their stay in Australia,” he said.
Acting General Secretary of the PNG Trade Union Congress, Anton Sekum, said there were growing doubts about whether the labour mobility program was delivering the intended benefits to PNG workers.
“We have a lot of doubts as to the success of the program, whether our workers going down there are looked after very well. Are they getting what they’re supposed to get?” Sekum said.
He called on the Labour Mobility Unit to provide the country with a comprehensive report on the program’s outcomes.
Sekum said the report should outline how much money workers had remitted to PNG, the skills they had acquired, how many workers had returned and started businesses, and how skills gained overseas were being transferred to PNG.
“We need a report from the Labour Mobility Unit to this country,” he said.
Pisoro also cited the recent death of PNG migrant worker Jeff James in a reported vehicle accident in Townsville, Australia, as an example of welfare challenges faced by migrant workers and their families.
She questioned why relatives and fellow workers had to raise funds to repatriate his body, calling for governments to take greater responsibility for workers in distress and emergency situations.
She also referred to an ABC Four Corners investigation into migrant workers in Australia’s horticulture sector, which raised concerns about pay, accommodation, working hours and reliance on labour-hire contractors.
The unions called on the PNG Government to formally include the PNG Trade Union Congress and relevant workers’ organisations in labour mobility policy development, oversight and monitoring.
They said stronger monitoring was urgently needed to protect workers’ rights, ensure fair treatment and establish greater accountability for the labour mobility program.