Neumann slams Labor over visas | Ipswich News | Local News in Ipswich

Disgusting treatment to Australian workers ! Shame Shame Shame to Swifts.
Australian employees first and foremost !
If its Chinamen you want then bring on Meat Consumption Strikes to return the favour.
Send them home and look after your own people.

Is Australia racist? Of course it is but it is reverse racism. Why on earth are these foreigners allowed to take Aussie jobs? Do they work for less?
In their own country this would not happen I am sure.
Talk about looking after your own first, that just does not apply in this country.
We have relatively high unemployment and yet here we have foreigners taking Aussie jobs.
Shame on you Swifts!!!!!!!!!

Its Aussie workers first for me and we can demand we stop the imports. Forget the paperwork boys just say no! to the bureaucrats. Good on ya Shayne up em

It seems Shane is the federal MP for meat works. This is the first time I have seen him do his job.

Only last night an ALP member quizzed me over my Letters to the Editor and why I would consider running at the federal election. This is why. Last week, Shane Neumann was informed that I will be running as an Independent. My political presence, given I've consistently been outspoken in relation to the plight of meat workers, is no doubt responsible for his sudden willingness to stand up for meat workers.
Dr Patricia Petersen

i cant belive it they didnt want to employ me but they employ imports from other countrys and that isnt on and they say aussies need jobs but they give it to all the foreign and they are mean to all of us and wont employ us that is so so wrong.

ps So that you are aware, Shane is for live exports, a practice which has adversely affected and will increasingly impact on workers - fewer shifts and money. He is also for the government's new legislation, which allows imported beef into the country - legislation which will cripple the beef industry. Excuse the self-promotion, but I am against live exports, against the new legislation and against the 457 Visa program.
Dr Patricia Petersen

These migrant workers are contracted and must get 45k per year, many aussies at the plant will struggle to get 35k this year, the fact is the meat industry uses the migrant workers lke buying stock, they dont wish to train locals, they just import the workers knowing they can behave as they like knowing thier workforce wont be going anywhere for 4 years, at the moment the company could slow production and have the factory working every shift but seeing as they have a large number of migrant workers they have production at full pace and stand down its workforce giving many workers just 2 days work per week, the company has total contempt for this country and its people and the govt has put the stick in thier hand, let the company face the free labour market with no immigrants then you will see them treat aussies better, until then we are second class.

Poor form from Swifts, but they are not the ones to blame. They are working within the rules, all be it to greedily maximise their profits at the expense of Australian workers. The blame lays at the feet of the government for allowing this Howard policy to continue on, when there is no need for it to continue. The government you are apart of Shayne might be unhappy with Swifts, but you let them get away with it. So not only do Australain jobs go overseas for cheap labour, we allow the cheap labour to come to us. Foreign workers should never take precedence over capable Australian's who are wanting to work more hours or over those who are on the dole.

Good to see some competition Patricia. Good luck in taking on the 'labor machine'! I don't like monopolies any where or from any one organisation, but that is what we have in Ipswich. Labor at all levels and in all seats and no robust opposition. Not a healthy situation.

ugg! what did our diggers fight for! flag and country, aboriginals and white australians are the minority, the majority and priority are migrants, which would be easier to swallow if they respected our culture, we seem to cater to their every whim, would an aboriginal or white australian arriving in any of our many migrant countries, be given first prority to education or employment .......but wasted breath as the company in question is foriegn owned!!!

Where has Shane Neumann been all this time, seems he is all talk and no action. Labour promised to protect workers jobs before the election, my vote will not be going to Shane Newumann next election.

i know for a fact but i wont say where i got the information from but when they have stand downs you dont get paid for it but if your a migrant you still get a full weeks wage also for a fact i know this information is 100 percent true also if your a migrant doing the same job as a australian you get more money then we do its the truth

Good luck Patricia you have got my vote. You are at least willing to be heard on a vast range of subjects. This being an election year will bring out all the pollies who have been holed up in their cocoons for the past 2 years.
This stunt by Mr Neumann is just that a stunt, where has he been when there has been a plethara of other issues that he should have spoken out on.

What slumloard is saying is correct.

My goodness if what slumlord says it true and it seems to be as Aussiegirl backs it up then why isn't it headlines in the paper and where is Shayne ? Isn't he a Labor man ? I thought Labor was mainly financed through the unions, so where also are the unions, they should be kicking and screaming about this matter.

If Shane Neumann is so angry, why not resign and go and work at the meatworks, I am sure he will get two days work a week. Being a Australian, how could expect any more than that, I'm sure he would be happy to give more work to the foreign workers.

Im All with yah Aussiegirl i use to work there quite a while ago and it was so so then but with people i know who still work there it is bad and everything i said in my last comment is 100 percent true

Hey Doc look out they will think you'll end up like pauline hanson

The truth is that because the migrant workers are contracted they must be paid at least 45k per year, so when the company has production going full speed and the plant just working 2 days per week the migrants can relax knowing they will recieve at least 45 k this financial year, its the poor australians who had hoped the politicians wouldnt let this fiasco happen that suffer, this has been going on for 2 years now, some skilled aussies made just 32k last financial year because of stand downs at the plant, shayne was made aware of it over 18 months ago, how do i know? well i was involved with 2 meetings with shayne myself, this is shamefull from our own govt and the company..

From young men dying in roof spaces installing insulation with no training or safety standards, to this being allowed to go on. This shows to me there is a large group of Australians being exploited, who are often young and vulnerable. Are unions and politicians really interested in serving or protecting these people? Where is this safety net of minimum pay and working conditions that this government is supposed to have implemented? Hope it is not still sitting on Mr Rudd's desk awaiting his perusal.

Thank you Duckox18, Slumlord and Justme74 for your encouragement and support.
Slumlord, re ending up like Pauline Hanson - my loins are guarded, I'm ready for political heat and made of tough stuff. Will be okay, but thank you for your concern (this issue hasn't escaped my notice or the attention of others...)
Patricia

Hey Doc if ever you need a hand im there for yah

justme74, slumlord speaks the truth.

I work at Dinmore meat works so I know what he/she is telling the truth.

As a current Swift employee struggling in these crappy times, its not just the government that are allowing this to happen but also the workers union delegates AMIEU!!! How can we justify paying them $7.20 a week when they dont do anything for the Australian workers!!?? They just keep giving us excuses and no answers!!! I'am very unhappy with the way Swift have gone about this and the company has gone downhill big time since the Americans sold it to the Brazilians!!! Also, I was reading an article in the QT last week stating that the Federal government wants to increase our population from 22 million to 35 million by 2050 largely through IMMIGRANTS!!!! How the hell are honest hard working Australians meant to live if this is how the government thinks???? WOW more of them to take the rest of the jobs that remain!! Also the 457 visa holders were only approved the 1st time around to fill a shortfall in the industry, there is no longer a shortfall!! Let's ship em home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And yes everyone they receive a full weeks wage regardless of stand downs and yet again the Aussies get nothing!!! And GOOD LUCK PATRICIA - YOU'VE GOT MY VOTE!!!!!!!

andi81 hit it right on thr head, ex union reps may be working in swifts HR dept for a few more dollars, aussie give it to them

A small victory. I sent this letter to Editors of newspapers around the country. As a result, numerous people around the country complained...I've forced the government to backflip in relation to imported beef...here's a copy of the letter. One issue down, two to go...still the issue of live cattle exports and the 457 Visa program...

I refer to the Member for Blair's statement (QT, 25th Feb) that his government is "not going to bring unsafe beef into Australia." Not true. When pressed, his own government concedes that there is some risk of Australians eating mad-cow infected meat after beef export laws are relaxed.
What measures has the government put in place so that we can feel safe biting into a meat pie? Countries wishing to export beef and beef products to Australia apply to the Australian BSE Food Safety Assessment Committee (the Committee) for assessment. How? They fill out an Australian Questionnaire to Assess BSE Risk. Which is what? A form. You read correctly. On this basis, we should trust that the federal government will keep us safe from a disease which is invariably fatal and of which there is no known treatment or cure.
The Member for Blair stated that his government "consulted with the beef industry organisations" and that they "didn't do this out of the blue". Misleading. The Government did consult with and ultimately did the bidding for large multinational processors which dominate the local meat industry. However, it ignored the warnings of beef producers and the Australian Beef Association (ABA). Beef producers argued that bringing overseas beef into Australia is going to have a devastating impact on our economy. Diseases like made cow have virtually wiped out beef industries overseas. The ABA said it was appalled at the Government's decision, taken at a time when real cattle prices were sinking as low as those recorded during the 1974-78 cattle depression.
On the 8th January this year, the government's own Food Standards website, read: The government suspended imports of Japanese beef following confirmation...(I cannot complete the sentence because the government has removed the information from its site, presumably because it doesn't want you to read it). I can only assume it once read...following confirmation of BSE.
Not if, but when, there is an outbreak of BSE in Australia, our blood donor system will be in jeopardy as will our blood supplies. In 2000, Australians who spent time in the UK from 1980 onwards were precluded from giving blood, due to the risk of mad cow disease entering Australia's blood supply. Of course, given BSE has a long incubation period of up to several years - at least five years and could extend to twenty years or longer - the government isn't concerned - no one will show symptoms until well after the next election.
Dr Patricia Petersen
Riverview

Thank you Slumlord and Andi82!
Patricia

Andi82 and others, this is a letter I wrote to the QT - in relation to unions being ineffective and why...FYI...
The union movement got rid of Work Choices, only to have the Rudd government replace it with "Work Choices Lite" (the Fair Work Act). Building sites are still unwitting hosts of Howard's Australian Building Construction Commission. In fact the ABCC's powers have been extended. Workers are finding it difficult to contact union organisers and lawful industrial action is restricted. Many workers are worse off due to award simplification. The Australian Council of Trade Unions acknowledge that the Fair Work Act contains 15 serious breaches of human rights; however, it refuses to do anything about them. Why? Because it doesn't want to embarrass the government.
Surely, it's time for unionists, including ALP members, to be brave enough to have the public debate: Should unions dump the ALP? For me, this is a no-brainer. Of course they should. Workers' money being used to politically prop up a party that represents big business, has not worked and will not work in the future. Unionists and ALP members need to ask themselves: Should I be loyal to the values that led to the formation of the ALP (after the 1890 strikes, it was recognised that industrial action was inadequate without a poltical voice) or should I continue to be loyal to a party that doesn't protect, indeed violates the human rights of workers?
Dr Patricia Petersen

Will be very interested to see if Shayne Neumann replies to all these comments. Who is taking the bets???

am employee of Swift and very angry of what's happening to our working situation. The labor Party ( Chris Evans and Shayne Nueman) need to remind what they promised to us during election day. The core Labor Party is "fairness" and their policies are designed to protect working families and protect our jobs.That's a lot bull working 2 days a week struggling to survive to pay the bills and mortgage and allowing the 457 renewed their visa for another 4 years and guarantee their annual income you call that "fairness to Australian workers and families.

I would like to voice my concern over the fact that I as an employee at Swifts Dinmore meat works am being stood down and the company still employs 457 visa workers. It is my understanding that 457 visa holders were to fill the shortage in the labour force in skilled workers, not take the full time work off domestic employees. MY husband had a 457 visa holder working for him and when the shortage of work demands were relevant to them he was told that he had to employ his domestic workers first. He had to notify the department of immigration within five days of not being able to employ the 457 visa holder and it was up to the 457 visa holder to find alternative sponsor or leave the country within a specified time.

Therefore if J B S Swifts have not got full time employment for us why are they still allowed to employ 457 visa holders when the work they are giving the could be alternatively giving us full time employment. A lot of my colleagues are suffering with the prospect of not meeting their mortgage payments and general living expenses.

I saw a program on TV the other week that the government was saying that racial discrimination was on the down turn in this country. I am from the Philippines and a number of my work mates are of Asian background and have to work because their husbands have given up work due to ill health. Has I have stated this should not bring racial feeling into it but unfortunately the fact is it is doing. There are Taiwanese, Vietnamese, Cambodians, Filipino, Yugoslavs, English and many other immigrants that have made there homes in Australia and taken the meat works on when they could not find other work, and do jobs that Australians did not want to do. These people swore allegiance to this country in the hope that it would look after them if they worked hard and became Australians. Unlike the 457 visa holders that are temporary workers sending nearly all there wages home to build a better life in china, the permanent emigrants and the domestic workers are building a better life in their new home AUSTRALIA with their new found families.

Hope you will Take my concerns to parliament,

My wife came home very distort at the fact that 457 visas are still being renewed when they were told at a meeting at J B S Swifts on the afternoon shift that, 50 visas have been renewed and there is another hundred to be renewed, Workers at this meeting were also told that they could go to centre link and apply for assistance. That means that this overseas company is putting Australian workers on reduced hours to make way for overseas temporary workers, this is putting a burden on the tax payers of Australia and putting Australian meat workers on the poverty line and in jeopardy of losing their home by not meeting their mortgages. The 457 workers send their money back to China which does not help our economy what so ever. When our children and families of one of the hardest working, workforces in this country of opportunity are put on the bread line to support overseas workers, do you think this will lead to racial disharmony. Most of theses people are supposed to meet the criteria of the IELTS test of a Band score requirement that we are not sure of. Now people of permanent residency and Australian citizens working with theses workers know that they have to have translators to communicate with them how it is possible? For them to pass theses requirements.

It seem that all the complaints to Shayne Newman’s office are swept under the carpet this I could not say was true fact but this is the opinion of people that have talked to me and they are employees of J B S Swifts. I feel that a Labour government should be doing a lot more to protect the industry’s employees of this exploitation of driving our standard of living down. It was also stated at the meeting that this company wanted to retain people within their workforce but as far as I can see they are forcing people out of it and making way for these 457’s. We as Australians are very generous when it comes to helping others out but at the cost of only working two or three days a week and seeing our families suffer fair crack of the whip. I thought we got rid of reds under the bed? Now they are eating the bread off our kid’s tables.

Some of the people whom are talking to me are scared of retribution against them, they are too old to find employment in other industries so they think and the meat works is all they know.

Dr Pratricia you got the vote

Looks like Shane isn't the member for the meat works, in fact he is the member for nothing as he has been for 3 years. I was considering having a go at Neumann at the next election but more than happy to support the good doctor in her quest. I think all Australians want to see people being treated fairly and with respect and clearly this is not the case at Swifts. I found out 20 years ago that the unions are into power and control and care little for the small amount of people who may be getting shafted. The union movement helped elect Neumann and co, are they going to help a candidate that really doesn't care about their members? I am not employed now for the first time in 33 years and I don't care about work choices because I have no job. I had work choices while Howard was in, if I didn't like the boss or the job I went somewhere else. I can't do that now because there are no jobs. Patricia, I will contact you when I know how and help with your election.

This is disgraceful from a government largely put there and financed by union dues to get rid of a government that gave us 'big evil' work choices. Did anything this bad go on under work choices or was it all a beat up? Where is the union representing meat workers, hello? This situation is fundamentally unfair. I am shocked that it is allowed to legally happen under any government, let alone a labor government in a seat with a labor member. Who is he again? You have my support Patricia. We need a good hard working local member who cares about what goes on here.

The worst thing about all this is that the workers are too scared to stand up and fight for fairness as they fear for their jobs!!! If we fought back or went on strike, for sure, we would be in Personnel getting our Aussie butts fired n sent to Centrelink!!! And as for the company telling us to go visit Centrelink, well i found out that I'm entitled to a whole $90 a fortnight!!! Wahoo, that's gonna pay my bills! And also, why aren't our holiday and sick days accruing?? It is not through our fault that we arent working, so i believe that they should still be accruing!! Right??? See, these are the questions that go unanswered or dismissed straight away by our fantastic under the table paid Union delegates!!!!

For Andi82 and others effected by this. Just a suggestion, but would it help if you guys got together to carry out a loud and peaceful protest outside the local federal members office? Since the government he is apart of has given Swifts behaviour the tick of approval. That way, the employer should not take out retribution on you. I hope. The last thing you need is your pay cut further. I'm sure the QT would like to report on the action Shayne Neumann says he is going to take when he steps out of his office to talk to you in person. I hope your situation improves soon.

Thank you for your support. I will continue to bat for you.
Patricia
patriciapetersen01@hotmail.com

how are ya mate,i work there to,maybe what we might need to do,is to march on Neumann door ,& protest like all our other workers do,for example the builders,& the teachers,have done ,we have ample time to do this with no work for us,i cant understand why we wont get up & fight,what we achieve now,is for the next generation of Australian workers,which could be our children,lets get rid of these imagrints,& stand up & fight for your job,instead of thinking of getting a new one,i suggest we organise this with our unions,& get them off there lazy fat butts,& do something about it,maybe we need a new leader,the one we got has been in there longer then Jonny Howard,it is also true & disgusting that our company has no heart,to look after,the men & women who have been there for many years,i also wish that i was granted 45k a year,not35k,lets get something going,join the union& become a bigger force,EBA is next,AUSSIE'S FIRST!!!

lets march on Neumanns door & let him know to fix this problem,or he will be gone also,ive been in the meat industry for many years throught out my life & im currently working there now,for years they have been trying to take away,everything our old time workers have thought for,it is our time to stand up & fight,these issue's not sit back & wait for miricals,let JBS know that where Australians & where worth fighting for,if our delegate,doesn't want it, get a new one,some of the visa workers have actually passed there due date,& are being still employed there,lets do something.

This is the time, and best time, to act. I've announced I'm running as an Independent at the federal election - printed in the QT today. Swift is one of the largest employers in Ipswich - the government won't want to unnecessarily lose votes to me.
I urge Shane Neumann and the government to deal with this issue immediately. Consider this a formal request. If the 457 Visa issue isn't attended to, I'll organise a protest for the meat workers. Do the right thing by them and you can keep the votes. I just want this issue resolved. Please, help these workers!
Dr Patricia Petersen