Worker Stories

December 16, 2020

Since the Migrant Workers Centre launched in 2018, we’ve supported migrant workers to collectively recover over $1,000,000. This sum includes stolen wages, unpaid superannuation and entitlements, and WorkCover claims. While this milestone is a testament to the power of collectively organising and unionising, MWC...

September 11, 2020

Soo, Sermet and Tiff led very different lives, but their paths crossed when they found themselves without work or any federal government support amidst a pandemic - a situation shared by hundreds of thousands of migrants in Australia since COVID-19 hit. After months of...

September 11, 2020

Workers at a large recycling factory in Melbourne have achieved transformative changes at their workplace and collectively recovered over a million dollars in stolen wages.  These hard fought wins, which have taken place over the last year, are a result of the organising efforts...

March 13, 2020

Maryaan, a former anaesthetist from Iraq, talks about overcoming the barriers to finding work in Australia and the importance of mental health in workplace OH&S training. Maryaan is a health educator at the Multicultural Women’s Health Organisation, a project officer at the Murdoch Institute...

March 13, 2020

Fabrizio Venturini, one of our Multicultural Safety Ambassadors, talks about the challenges facing a new generation of international students and his experience unionising against wage theft.When we think of migrant workers and temporary visa holders in Australia today, Italian migrants usually aren't the first...

February 18, 2020

Workplace Occupational Health and Safety isn’t just about access to information. It’s also about community empowerment and delivering information in a culturally relevant way.Last month, Ring Mayar led the first info session of the Migrant Workers Centre Multicultural Safety Ambassadors program. Ring is President...

January 22, 2020

一個從台灣來的背包客Darren如何組織一起工作的同事，追回欠薪澳幣$12,000? Darren從開始工作的第一天就意識到他的老闆欠薪，在與一起工作的同事共同蒐集證據；採取集體行動後，他們終於追回高達澳幣$12,000的欠薪。 就如同其他數以萬計的海外青年打工族群一樣，Darren在前年持打工度假簽證入境。循著工作廣告，他在熱鬧的墨爾本市區，找到一間咖啡店的工作。如廣告中所述；全職工作加上法定最低薪資。Darren在未抵達澳洲前，就非常嚮往墨爾本的咖啡文化，而且徵才啟事看起來也非常吸引人。  

January 21, 2020

How did Darren, a backpacker from Taiwan, organise his workplace and recover $12,000 in stolen wages? Darren knew from day one that his boss was underpaying him, but it wasn’t until he collectively took action with his co-workers that they got back $12,000 in...

January 21, 2020

从台北市白领转做澳洲肉厂工人，对任何一个人来说想必都不容易。一对来自台湾的年轻夫妻就发现澳洲的移民体系和对劳动法的制度化漠视是他们成功路上的畔脚石。 2016年Riza和丈夫Roy首次登陆澳洲昆士兰州的Caboolture。作为背包客，两人信心满满地以为只要努力付出就会获得回报，然而等待他们的却是绰号 “恐怖丘” 的Caboolture镇以及当地糟糕的居住环境，日益猖獗的工资盗窃和对员工的层层盘剥。  

November 26, 2019

Leaving behind white-collar work in Taiwan to take up jobs in the Australian meat industry was always going to be difficult. But one young couple found Australia’s immigration system and institutionalised disregard for labour laws was stacked against their dreams of success. In 2016,...