Pacific Union body concerned at guest worker dispute

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Updated February 25, 2009 17:22:49

The Pacific's regional trade union body is concerned the first group of Pacific guest workers in Australia are being treated as casual workers, rather than permanent employees. Efforts to sort out the dispute between the Tongan's employers and the Australian Workers Union, which negotiated their agreement, are underway. The Chair of the South Pacific and Oceanic Council of Trade Unions, Mele Amanaki, who is Tongan, says this sort of misunderstanding about the workers condition is not what was promised.

presenter: Bruce Hill
Speakers: John Sutton, National Secretary of Australia's Construction, Forestry, Mining, Energy Union; Mele Amanaki,
Chair South Pacific and Oceanic Council of Trade Unions; Julia Gillard, Australia's deputy prime minister

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