A total of 11 Filipinos are reportedly living in the office of Schneider Elevators after the company stopped paying their wages.
The Australian Manufacturing Worker’s Union told the Sydney Morning Herald that the elevator company has stopped paying correct wages and overtime to the 11 Filipinos over six weeks ago.
The union also accused the company of deducting fees from worker’s salaries – essentially leaving them with take-home pays ranging from $150 to $500 a week.
The workers are said to now live in a local hotel but the Filipinos still feel that they are “in slavery treatment” as one put it.
The Filipino workers were brought to Australia using the 457 visas – one that promised to pay lucrative wages to send back to their families.
The Pinoy workers are complaining too that they “find themselves exploited, paid well below local industry standards.”
Schneider Elvevators Australiasia Managing Director Terrence Donnelly has declined to comment.