Look! I do real news too!

This is an article I was commissioned to write for a Sydney-based newspaper called The Irish Echo. It's a pretty well thought of publication with a very healthy following among Australia's hefty Irish community.

Irish seasonal farm workers fall victim to exploitation

Seasonal farm work has long been a staple source of income for Irish backpackers and with second year working holiday visas available to those who complete 88 days in the agriculture industry, demand for 'fruit-picking' jobs is higher than ever. Robert Carry, who worked for four WA vineyard companies during the course of his investigation, reveals how this increase in demand has led to some employers implementing exploitative work practices.

“They had us living like animals,” recalls Sean Morgan, a qualified plumber from Dublin. The 22-year-old came to Australia in search of work when the Irish construction industry went into free fall. Unable to secure employment in plumbing and with funds beginning to dwindle, he turned his attention to seasonal farm work. He was among hundreds of backpackers who responded to an online classified add offering vineyard pruning work in Dandaragon, three hours north of Perth. The add promised free accommodation and piece rate payment in excess of $1,000 per week.

He and nine other successful applicants arrived to find that the free accommodation consisted of a filthy, semi-derelict farm house (pictured) and when work began it quickly became apparent that none of the staff would be earning the wages promised. In a number of cases, renumeration would equate to less than the minimum wage. The company gave guarantees of three months pruning work in the Margaret River area; enough to qualify for a second year working holiday visa. However, when Sean and the rest of the group made the seven-hour journey to the south-west town just 10 days in, the company's supervisors suddenly became impossible to contact. “They turned off their phones so we couldn't get in touch with them,” recalls Sean. “We left dozens of messages and sent a ton of emails but they basically ignored us.”

According to Australia's Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC), record numbers of working holiday makers are searching for harvest work in order to gain a second year visa. Yearly figures to June 2009 show the number of successful applicants has hit a record 21,727 – an increase of 84 per cent on the same period last year. The largest uptake was among South Koreans while the Irish, at 4,426, came in second. As a result, accounts like Sean's are becoming increasingly common.

The surge in numbers is good news for Australian farmers. Stories of fruit and vegetables rotting on vines due to shortages of pickers have been replaced by reports of farmers being inundated with requests for work. The National Harvest Labour Information Service, which assists job seekers searching for farm-related employment, normally gets between 2000 to 3000 calls per week at seasonal heights. The organisation is now reporting weekly calls in excess of 4,500. Migrant labourers have quickly gone from a scarce resource to being easily replaceable. The comparative scarcity of positions mean workers are now forced to tolerate employment practices which would previously prompted them to look elsewhere.

The Irish Echo uncovered a host of exploitative work practices in a number of wineries during the course of its investigation into working conditions on WA vineyards. Staff reported late payment of wages, incorrect payslips and mass dismissals with little or no prior notice. One Irish vineyard worker told how he was dismissed with one day's notice when the owner of the vineyard he was employed by decided to give his job to his teenage son.

However, the most commonly cited issue was that of pay rates falling below the national minimum wage. The low rates of pay meant staff were reluctant to take breaks and frequently worked through eight-hour shifts without stopping in order to make above minimum wage. Unfortunately, employers paying piece rate are exempt from minimum payment regulations under current employment legislation, so staff have little legal protection.

Australia's Fair Work Ombudsman's (FWO) office received a rash of complaints from vineyard workers in WA since the start of the year and eventually launched an investigation. Inspectors checked the books of 27 wineries and vineyards in the south-west region and according to its report released last month, a third were in breach of pay laws. A spokesperson for the FWO told The Irish Echo, “A recent WA wine industry campaign was conducted in response to worker complaints and information from industry associations... Employers in the Great Southern and South West wine regions did not properly understand their obligations.”

However, the organisation revealed that the The Great Southern Wine Producing Association and The Margaret River Wine Association – industry bodies of which a number of the investigated vineyards are members – were informed by the FWO of their plans to examine the issue before the investigation was launched. As a result, problems may be far more extensive than FWO figures suggest.

The FWO told The Irish Echo that it is opposed to employers using the piece rate exemption as a means of paying staff below minimum wage. A spokesperson said, “Employees must receive at least the correct minimum entitlements regardless of whether they are paid piece rates, by the hour or a salary.”
ENDS