Union calls for compulsory training of Australians as condition for 'migrant hires'

The Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) is advocating for an agreement between businesses and unions that would allow for the employment of migrants “to address the skills shortage” but only if employers agreed to contribute to the training of an Australian for a similar position.

According to a media release, AWU National Secretary Daniel Walton would seek support from delegates at the union’s National Conference to present the idea to the Federal Treasurer at the Jobs and Skills Summit in September.

The AWU also proposes that all new migrants automatically enroll in their relevant union by default “to mitigate widespread exploitation and wage theft.”

The union further expressed its concern, citing that in recent decades, Australian skills “have been hollowed out,” with apprenticeship rates falling and the TAFE (Technical And Further Education) system “struggling for funding.”

“Employers have effectively been allowed to de-skill the nation by successfully lobbying conservative governments to remove their traditional obligation to train Australians. They then turn to short-term migration to to fill roles, which exacerbates the problem. It’s human centipede policy,” Walton said.

“The AWU recognises that migration, including some short-term migration, is economically necessary in the immediate term. But the union believes employers in Australia have an obligation to help Australians fill the roles they are creating,” he added.

The AWU’s plan

According to a report published by the AWU, the union proposes the following plan of action, among other objectives:

• An increase in the skilled migration program but labour market testing (LMT) must remain a fundamental requirement for filling local skills vacancies before sourcing skills offshore.
• All Australian governments should work with employers and unions to establish a new National Skills Fund and levy to support higher TAFE commencements and new apprentices to offset the current high rate of cancellations or withdrawals in training.
• Businesses taking on skilled migrants facilitated by relaxed migration requirements would also be required to coinvest with skills development: either on a one-to-one basis (one trainee or apprentice for every skilled migrant) or through payment of a training levy targeted to industries with skills shortages.
• Critically, all new skilled migrant workers should be, by default, members of their union. This is the only reasonable measure in response to the significant failure of government to stamp out the systematic underpayment and exploitation of temporary migrant workers.
• Increases could be made to the permanent migration program, focused on areas of critical skills shortage to address employer needs, subject to strict LMT requirements and oversight of any exemptions in addition to maximising pathways for permanent migration from temporary visa holders identified by the Migration Council of Australia (now the Social Policy Group);
• Federal support for tertiary institutions to “win back” overseas students with a working visa entitlement which can also count towards permanent residency aligned with pathways identified by the Migration Council of Australia’s National Migration Compact;
• Support for workers in emissions-intensive industries transitioning to a cleaner economy by working with employers and unions to reskill and relocate workers based on matching or beating workers’ existing incomes and conditions.

“Our proposal would be a significant step beyond the Skilling Australians Fund (SAF). We would need much larger contribution of at least $10,000 and the deal would also need to ensure funds are actually targeted to training in the industries where sponsored migrants are used. Right now, no one actually knows where the money funnelled into the SAF goes or how it’s spent,” Walton said.

“It’s in the national interest for Australians to fill Australian jobs. If we don’t address things now we’ll be letting business turn Australia into a Saudi-style guest worker economy, he added.

The AWU noted that it is “encouraged” by the federal government’s commitment to “reboot” investment in local skills training and the steps “it had already taken in this regard.”

The union also applauded different state and territory jurisdictions that recently invested in local skills, like Victoria, which announced that in its 2022-23 budget, it would establish the TAFE Services Fund and a $108 million funding boost to local TAFE.