The Transport Workers’ Union’s (TWU) Western Australian branch is echoing industry calls for governments to step in and put a stop to illegal sham contracting that it says is “spreading like wildfire” throughout the transport industry.
Recent reporting on sham contracting has centred on abandoned heavy machinery in outback Western Australia, but the union says the real story is about workers.
According to the TWU, drivers are being pushed to work under an ABN while doing set hours, driving company vehicles and working overtime without proper pay — the exact same work an employee would do, just without the employment protections.
It says the result is no superannuation, no workers’ compensation if they’re injured, no annual leave, no sick leave and no long service leave.
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TWU WA state secretary Tim Dawson says that now’s the time to weed these companies out or force them to do the right thing.
“Australia is already facing a serious driver shortage, yet instead of lifting standards to attract workers, some companies are racing to the bottom through sham contracting,” Dawson says.
“The companies that are abandoning trucks, tires and equipment on the side of the road are likely the same companies that are cutting corners and driving down prices to operate through sham contracting.
“We need to ensure that the major clients, including large retailers, the mining industry and fuel companies are policing their supply chains and stamping out this illegal practice, rather than driving rates down and creating supply chains that are not only unsafe, but operating outside the law.”
He says regular hard-working people are being stripped of their entitlements, pushed into unsafe conditions and left without the legal protections every Australian worker deserves, all while still keeping the country moving.