{"id":308722,"date":"2021-11-04T13:53:08","date_gmt":"2021-11-04T03:53:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=308722"},"modified":"2021-11-04T13:53:08","modified_gmt":"2021-11-04T03:53:08","slug":"awu-claims-victory-over-farm-pay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2021\/11\/04\/awu-claims-victory-over-farm-pay\/","title":{"rendered":"AWU Claims Victory Over Farm Pay"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
AWU National Secretary Daniel Walton (Photo: LinkedIn)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

November 4, 2021<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Australian Workers’ Union says it has secured an historic industrial win for one of the most vulnerable and exploited groups of workers in Australia \u2013 fruit pickers.<\/p>\n

The Fair Work Commission has ruled in favour of the AWU after the union sought to amend the Horticulture Award to guarantee every worker\u00a0on every farm is entitled to take home the minimum casual rate of pay, currently $25.41 per hour.<\/p>\n

The National Farmers Federation (NFF), AiG (Australian Industry Group), and other employer groups opposed the AWU’s case.<\/p>\n

The union claimed some farms had been “dodging” paying the minimum rate\u00a0through piece rate arrangements, with some workers getting paid as little as $3 an hour.<\/p>\n

AWU National Secretary Daniel Walton said it was one of the most\u00a0significant industrial decisions of modern times.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“I believe this decision ranks among the great victories of our union’s 135-year history,” Mr Walton said.<\/p>\n

“Fruit pickers in Australia have been routinely and systemically exploited and underpaid. Too many farmers have been able to manipulate the piece rate system to establish pay and conditions far beneath Australian standards.<\/p>\n

“The changes\u00a0our union proposed, and that the FWC has now accepted, will put a safety net under fruit pickers to ensure they get what every worker in Australia deserves: a fair day\u2019s pay for a fair day\u2019s work.<\/p>\n

“Now it will be easy for workers \u2014 even if they don’t have good English language skills or Australian connections \u2013\u00a0to understand if they’re being ripped off. From now on if you’re making less than $25 an hour fruit picking in Australia your boss is breaking the law and stealing from you.<\/p>\n

“I expect the Federal Government will join the NFF in fear mongering about this decision. After all they have just hatched a plan to bring in even more easily exploited workers from South East Asia. But now those workers can at least know if they’re being exploited. A clear floor has been put in place.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis decision is not just a huge win for our union and for workers, but for regional and rural Australia. Workers who earn more, spend\u00a0more in local shops. They pay tax. They rent local houses and contribute to regional communities.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe so-called labour shortage in fruit picking has, in large part, been created by greedy employers destroying Australian working conditions. This decision\u00a0is a huge step along the path to fixing this.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Australian Workers’ Union says it has secured an historic industrial win for one of the most vulnerable and exploited groups of workers in Australia \u2013 fruit pickers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":305237,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,36],"tags":[1134],"yoast_head":"\nAWU Claims Victory Over Farm Pay - southburnett.com.au<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Australian Workers' Union says it has secured an historic industrial win for one of the most vulnerable and exploited groups of workers in Australia \u2013 fruit pickers.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2021\/11\/04\/awu-claims-victory-over-farm-pay\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"AWU Claims Victory Over Farm Pay - 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