Just over a week into my new career as a vineyard pruner, things were looking grim. Our merry band had been promised several months of continuous work on a number of vineyards, but we were soon close to finishing our first plot and details beyond that were sketchy.
We were told that we would have to head south to a place called Margaret River and wait a few days before work would become available. To make matters worse, the accommodation provided was medieval, and our wages were looking like they would be far short of what was promised.
With no real alternative available, I headed to Margaret River and waited for the call to resume work. It didn’t come.
During my time at Metro Éireann I’d worked on quite a few articles about the exploitation of foreign labour, but I never thought I would experience it myself. I wasn’t a happy camper, and just couldn’t take it on the chin.
I decided to fill in a few people on the way the company treated me and my colleagues, all of whom were foreigners to Australia. And in the interest of fairness I e-mailed Katy, the co-owner of the company and the person who had given me the job, to let her know why I was angry, and what I intended to do about it. The following is an excerpt from my correspondence with her:
“It’s been a number of weeks since anyone from Manager’s Choice has been in contact, and I can only assume that my employment has been terminated. However, I do not feel I can let things rest until I outline some grievances I have.
“Your company placed an ad promising $1,000-plus per week for experienced pruners and up to $1,000 for inexperienced workers. E-mails I have received from you said that I would be working for two weeks in Dandaragan before transferring to Margaret River.
“Despite the best efforts of the team it became immediately clear that nobody would be making that sort of money you promised. In fact, practically everyone made less than the national minimum wage.
“Although we were promised two weeks’ work in Dandaragan, this was reduced at short notice to just nine days. We were given guarantees of steady employment with free accommodation but instead were cut adrift with no wages just over a week in.
“Sadly, this apparently unforeseen break in our work schedule stretched on and the lines of communication broke down – mainly because your company completely ignored my numerous phone calls and e-mails. Eventually I called your phone on one occasion only to be told by an operator that my number had been blocked.
“It was around this time that our payday rolled around. It went without any sign of payment. When my wages finally did arrive, over a week late, they were a paltry $580.
“Another relevant point is the semi-derelict accommodation you provided. I have travelled to some of the poorest countries in the world, and I can safely say that I have never seen people living in such squalor.
“I didn’t expect to make my fortune when I signed up to work as a pruner. What I did expect was to be treated fairly and to receive a decent day’s pay for a decent day’s work. Instead, I was paid below the national minimum wage, endured a litany of broken promises and was treated like I was disposable, ignorable and not worth the time it takes to reply to an email or return a phone call.
“At present, I am working on an article about the exploitation of foreign workers on Australia’s farms, and vineyards in particular. I will be pitching this article to a number of local, regional and national papers. My pitch will include the details of my time with your company and quotes from other persons who have had the misfortune to have dealings with it.
“I have also taken it upon myself to inform as many vineyards as possible of the treatment your company metes out to its immigrant labourers, with a suggestion that they think carefully before rewarding any contracts to companies with dubious track records with regard to the treatment of workers. I will also send copies to other contractors – your competitors – of which I already have an exhaustive list.”
I contacted newspapers and vineyards as promised, and afterwards felt much better about the situation. One local paper even put a story on the subject on its front page. I also quickly found work with another vineyard contractor in Margaret River, and they proved to have fair employment practices.
Exploitation is rampant in this sector, but at least I wasn’t a victim for too long.
To be continued...
