Covino Farms accused of labor exploitation in Australia
The union says 44 workers from countries including Hong Kong and Taiwan were grossly underpaid and forced to work extreme hours between April 2013 and May 2015 and are seeking $500,000 in back pay. National Union of Workers' National Secretary Tim Kennedy said workers were paid as little as $9 per hour and forced to work days of 20 hours.
"The issue is who should be responsible, and at the moment we've got the host employer, Covino Farms, pointing their fingers at other people and other people pointing their fingers back at Covino," Mr Kennedy said.
The union hopes the legal action will establish that Covino Farms is responsible for the practices of its labor hire firms.
"If that is established, this is a significant case, because it will then create a lot more pressure up the supply chain all the way to the supermarkets," Mr Kennedy said.
Covino farms has renounced all liability and rejects the claims the union is casting towards them.
source: abc.net.au
