457 visa abuse in 12yr high unemployment

"Open for business"? More like open for fucking over Australian workers for cheap imported labour. Just another clueless fuckup from a clueless gov:

The union is fighting for a fair go for manufacturing workers in wake of 12-year high unemployment. 

That comes as official figures show a six per cent increase in the number of 457 visa workers in Australia in the year to March 2014. 

In developments this week: 

*Our WA branch found enough jobless metal workers in 30 minutes to fill skilled jobs that a multinational resource contractor CB&I claims it spent six months trying to recruit Australians for 

*Hastings Deering told our Queensland officials it had to give equal opportunity to short-term 457 Visa workers with permanent local employees when deciding on redundancies 

*AMWU National Secretary Paul Bastian led the charge on an ACTU call for an urgent Senate Inquiry into the skilled migration crisis 

*A Government document estimated tens of thousands of skilled migration applications each year could be fraudulent, as basic Immigration Department enforcement and checking collapses under cutbacks. 

Mr Bastian said: “The Abbott Government has been stripping the Immigration Department of staff and resources so that it is unable to properly administer or police the foreign worker visa program. 

“A Senate Inquiry should focus on ensuring that there is a transparent and regulated system. 

“Employers must exhaust all avenues for local employment first.” more