He said Pacific Island workers often lived with strangers in sharehouse accommodation and had to navigate expense deductions as well as their obligations to send money to their families back home.
But due to the housing crisis and the need still to negotiate with the states about funding the education of the workers' children, he believes settling worker families in Australia has logistical challenges.
Labour hire companies then established links to agents to recruit workers en masse from Kiribati, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Fiji and Timor-Leste.
Mr MacRaild said understanding fair work conditions and expense deductions for airfares, rent and transport, taxation and superannuation, had left many workers vulnerable to exploitation over the past decade.
Mr MacRaild said a disciplined worker working overtime could generate a life-changing $20,000 a season, which could pay for school fees, vehicles, and home renovations and repairs to cyclone-damaged homes.
He said living standards were improving beyond anything foreign aid had been able to achieve.
But Mr MacRaild said the the movement of workers to Australia had led to an exodus of young people that was creating social upheaval in participating island nations.
"Many of these people have come leaving their children at home with extended family for months, even years on end," he said.
The Attorney General of Canada faces a half-billion dollar class action filed by two migrant farm workers who say their Charter rights were violated under the Seasonal Agriculture Workers Program and the Temporary Foreign Workers Program.
Palmer said he first arrived in Canada in April 2014 on an eight-month contract and worked for Amco for six years. The father of two worked with chemicals, and while safety equipment was available, he didn't receive training on how to use it. He continues to worry exposure to those chemicals has hurt his health.
Amco terminated Palmer's employment in October 2019. The company allegedly posted a notice in the workplace. He said Amco never paid him for working overtime, and although he paid into Employment Insurance, he was denied access to the program.
The action alleges the Canadian government has received $475-million in EI contributions from foreign agricultural workers over the past 15 years.
The action states that European workers were never vulnerable to the same abuses because their work permits were not tied to specific companies.
I feel the same way. It feels absurd to just trudge to the office every day while I wonder if the world will be a safe place for my son by the time he's my age.
Unfortunately I see no way out. My wife has medical issues and I have to keep us in insurance, food, and shelter. Without her im not sure what I would do as I can be pretty fatalistic on my own but I can't let her suffer any more than she does.
I don't think Kbin allows for pasting images, and I don't want to clutter my computer/phone with images. At least it's just a direct link to the image, rather than to the Reddit thread itself.
Sidenote: As someone who doesn’t use Amazon Prime, I’ve noticed how Amazon frequently provides ways for me to sign up for Amazon Prime, and when the choice is being offered directly to me, it’s the option to sign up is generally highlighted very prominently while the option to decline is purposely subdued (through such things as less bold font and fewer colors).
Even having the experience I have, every time I buy something on Amazon I need to look closely to make sure I’m not signing up for it by accident.
Workers' Rights
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