Tempworkers support group hold first solidarity picket in Perth

Last Friday up to half dozen people attended successful information picket organised by the Tempworkers Australia & International outside the headquarters of AtWork in Perth city to highlight the plight of young Taiwanese guest worker Catta who was dismissed after enquiring about her workplace rights and the fact that she and her fellow colleagues were being underpaid by the agency.

The Perth Western Australia Labour Hire company mainly focuses on the recruitment of workers from Asia and the Far East and according to its own website offers bosses the opportunity "to lower labour costs" so that bosses could "say goodbye to staff management issues forever".

In a leaflet delivered to inside the company's offices and outside Catta stated: “I'm a student in Taiwan that I suspended my study and came to Australia for Working Holiday. As far as I know, Australia is a great country with human rights and people are friendly. However, I had encountered unfair treatment on my work.

IWW在伯斯和臨時工作者站在一起

年輕的台灣籍工人咖塔因為向雇主詢問她的工作權利，並且揭發她及同事被欠薪，因而遭到解雇。為此，上週五在伯斯市區，我們六個夥伴展開了對派遣公司AtWork Personnel的行動，針對台灣籍背包客咖塔所遭遇的不公平待遇，由Tempworkers Australia& International主持。

AtWork Personnel大多雇用亞洲及中東籍的員工，根據他們官方網站的說法，這樣可以幫助西澳的雇主「降低勞工成本」，且讓雇主「向人事管理問題說再見」。

我們在現場發送傳單，並且張貼在AtWork Personnel辦公室的外面，傳單上寫著咖塔的故事：「我來自台灣，大學畢業之後，我從研究所休學，來到澳洲打工度假。原本期待澳洲是一個人權概念先進的民主國家，但我卻在工作上遇到相當不合理的事情。