Migrant workers scoring top pay

Immigration Minister Chris Evans; Pic by: Marie Nirme

Skilled temporary migrant workers are earning on average $15,000 more than their Australian counterparts, undermining trade union claims that the system is being abused to undercut local wages.

Figures obtained by The Australian show that holders of 457 visas, which allow temporary skilled migrants to work in Australia for up to four years, are earning more than the average salaries of local workers across all industries in which they are employed.

The figures have reignited the debate over the use of foreign workers, with the Opposition seizing on the data as "dispelling the myth" that temporary skills workers are driving down wages, but unions and the Rudd Government insist that many visa holders are exploited by unscrupulous employers.

The Howard government introduced the current 457 visa regime in response to a skills crisis crippling growth industries such as mining and information technology.
Despite their use, skills shortages have worsened, with the Rudd Government citing them as a key contributor to upward pressure on inflation and interest rates and promising a massive program of skills training as part of its "education revolution".

The 457 visas have been a key target of the union movement, with former ACTU secretary and now Labor MP Greg Combet declaring in 2006 that thousands of workers on the visas from countries with lower wages than Australia were being recruited and denied the chance to join trade unions.

"The government is allowing the Chinese Communist Party to dictate terms in the Australian labour market," he said.

However, Immigration Department figures for 2006-07 show that across 16 industry sectors, 457 visa holders earned more than the going rate for local workers as recorded by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The average yearly salary for a 457 visa holder was about $71,600, more than $15,000 above the average salary of about $55,500.

In some industries, such as the specialised field of communications, imported workers earned salaries $25,000 a year more than the industry average. In the mining sector, 457 visa holders earned an average of $95,200 in 2006-07, compared with an average of $89,550 across the sector.

The latest figures revealed salaries for 457 visa holders in the sector had risen to $103,700.

While unions and some government figures cautioned about comparing skilled worker wages with industry-wide average wages-a category that includes lowly paid, unskilled workers the figures indicate the scheme is not subject to the widespread rorting claimed in the politically charged atmosphere leading up to November's election.

ACTU president Sharan Burrow played down the figures yesterday, saying they were too general. "It doesn't compare the wages and conditions of 457 migrant workers to local workers with similar occupations and in similar locations," she said.

NSW Unions secretary John Robertson said for the most part the 457 program was administered honestly, but that among lower-paid categories, such as trades, exploitation did occur.

"In the trades, there are many examples where people are being paid below the market average and are effectively bonded workers," he said.

But Immigration Minister Chris Evans said the temporary skilled migration program had proved integral in addressing Australia's skills crisis in sectors such as health, education and mining.

"Nearly 60 per cent of 457 visas are granted to professionals, with a further 10 per cent granted to associate professionals," he said.

Most employers paid market-rate wages and valued the contribution of temporary migrants, Senator Evans said. "A small minority of employers seek to underpay and exploit migrant workers and the Government is committed to cracking down on any abuses."

Employment Minister Julia Gillard said that while the program had been misused by some unscrupulous employers, it played a ``vital role'' in combating the skills shortage.

"While the majority of employers do the right thing, there have obviously been a number of cases in the recent period where employees on 457 visas have been exploited, including underpaid," she said.

In 2006-07, 46,680 visas were issued to foreign skilled workers under the 457 program. An increasing number of the visas are going to workers from developing nations such as China, The Philippines and India.

Opposition immigration spokesman Chris Ellison said the high wages commanded by holders of the 457 visa were a product of global market demand for skilled workers.

"This dispels the trade union scare campaign, which has portrayed 457s as providing cheap foreign labour," he said.

Despite more workers entering Australia from low-wage countries, the figures showed the average wages of 457 visa holders increased across most sectors in the six months to December last year.

In the booming mining industry, average salaries for 457 holders went from $95,200 to $103,700.

Construction, finance and insurance, government administration and defence and communication services were among the industries where the gulf between 457 salaries and the market wage was the greatest.

The average communication services worker earned about $59,700, according to averaged ABS weekly earnings data. This compared with an average income of $84,800 for temporary skilled migrants in the same industry.

Full-time construction workers earned about $52,800, almost $20,000 less than temporary skilled workers working in the same industry, who earned an average of $72,400.

Local finance and insurance workers also earned less ($70,000) than their overseas counterparts ($90,400), as did government administration and defence workers ($59,600) compared with skilled migrants in the same industry ($82,600).

Charles Cameron, a policy adviser to Australia's peak recruitment body Recruitment and Consulting Services Association, said he was ``completely unsurprised'' at the figures.

"Our experience is that around two-thirds are professionals, managers and technicians," he said. "They are highly unlikely to be exploited. The market just wouldn't allow it."

Even in industries where workers from low-wage countries are increasingly dominating, such as manufacturing, construction, communications and health, overseas workers were earning more than the market wage.

In manufacturing, the market wage was $52,299, considerably below the average wage for 457 visa holders of $66,600.

Although the ABS does not produce an average annual salary for all industries, it it does take a quarterly "snapshot" of weekly wages for full time employees. The Australian obtained its market wage figure by averaging the four snapshots for full-time employees taken during 2006-07.

IMPORTED WORKERS

KEY
AAA = Industry
BBB = Average earnings, 2006-07*
CCC = Average earnings of workers on 457 visas, 2006-07
DDD = Difference
EEE = Percentage difference
FFF = Average earnings of workers on 457 visas, Dec 2007

* Average of four snapshots taken by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2006-07
Sources: Department of Immigration a * Average of four snapshots taken by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2006-07 and Citizenship, ABS