Published November 15, 2024
BY IRWIN ANGIKI
The Solomon Islands council of trade union (SICTU) has echoed calls for the Australian government to improve conditions for seasonal workers in the PALM scheme.
This includes – freedom to change employers, a minimum of 30 hours work per week, decent and fair accommodation, having fair and accessible superannuation.
This call was made by the Pacific Islands council of trade union (PICTU) the peak body for trade unions in the Pacific, during a meeting on November 11 in Brisbane, Australia ahead of the 2024 Labour mobility annual meeting (PLMAM).
The suggested improvements are a collective of complaints and feedbacks from seasonal workers under the PALM scheme.
In a statement on November 14, 2024, SICTU reiterated that it represents Solomon Islands workers in Australia, as PICTU does for Pacific workers there.
“While noting the positive reforms the Australian Government has made to the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) program that have been introduced since the last PLMAM, PICTU calls on the Australian Government to urgently make the following reforms to PALM to protect the rights of Pacific workers and prevent exploitation,” the statement said.
-PALM workers should have freedom to change employers: PALM workers must have worker-driven mobility – currently workers are effectively tied to their employer-sponsor, which creates a power imbalance that can lead to exploitation. Workers must be able to easily change employers, just as local workers can. This will enable workers to leave exploitative situations, seek better pay and conditions, or a more suitable role.
SICTU through PICTU calls on the Australian government to ensure the following:
-Guarantee a minimum of 30 hours a week, each week for short-term workers: PALM workers should not leave Australia in debt. Unfair deductions and no minimum hours will leave PALM workers in poverty and hardship. The implementation of the guaranteed minimum hours of 30 hours a week, each week for short-term PALM workers on 1 July 2025 to enable workers to earn enough money to support themselves in Australia and their families.
-Accommodation must be decent and fair: Accommodation costs must be comparable to local market rates, and of a decent standard that enables to workers to live in dignity and safety.
-Make super fair and accessible: Make it easier for workers to claim their superannuation, remove the tax on Departing Australia Superannuation Payments (DASP) for PALM workers, expand options to improve the portability of super, and ensure workers have the right to choose their own superannuation fund.
-Access to the social safety net for PALM workers: Currently PALM workers have to take out private health insurance, which is a cost burden and deters workers from seeking health care – PALM workers must have access to Medicare and the social safety net.
-Union involvement in pre-departure briefings and worker mobilisation: The Australian Government must urge Pacific Island Governments Pacific Unions must be invited to attend the pre-departure briefings, and must be consulted in the worker mobilisation process to mitigate ‘brain drain’.
-Decent work for workers on return to their home country: The Australian Government must invest in skills development for PALM workers, and work with Pacific Island Countries to ensure that PALM workers are given support to reintegrate and given opportunities for engagement in decent work in the formal sector, and that Pacific Island Countries adopt a tripartite approach to worker reintegration.
