General
Calls for royal commission as report details allegations blueberry farmers pay workers $3 an hour
An investigation into the blueberry industry on the New South Wales north coast is alleging systemic wages theft and intentional worker underpayment by unscrupulous labour hire firms.
Key points:
- An audit of job advertisements found some contractors offered pay rates as low as $60 a day
- Coffs Harbour is home to 65 per cent of Australia’s blueberries crop and attracted 2,000 workers during the 2020 harvest
- Foreign workers recruited for blueberry farms said they were exploited by labour hire firms in return for help in extending their visas
Research by the McKell Institute commissioned by the Australian Workers Union (AWU) claims contractors used by some farms in the Coffs Harbour region have convinced young foreign workers to accept…
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