The Age emphasises that the Fair Work Ombudsman needs to have greater powers to scrutinise work practices in industries such as fruit picking.
The pay and conditions of the illegal foreign workforce used at some Victorian farms, exposed in a Fairfax report this week, are shocking: workers paid an effective hourly rate as low as $2.50, some even left in debt, working 14-hour days, crammed together, sleeping on floors in rundown farmhouses.
It is shocking and shameful that this gross exploitation is taking place in Victoria, and authorities have a clear responsibility to act. The big question, however, is how much produce suppliers and the major supermarkets who buy their fruit know about this practice.
The Age has argued before that big companies must, as far as possible, know what is going on in their supply chain. It is not good enough for major supermarkets and fruit suppliers to say they didn't know. They are making big profits on the back of this exploitation.
Many of those involved in investigating this problem argue that current laws are having little impact. The Age supports calls for new sanctions, particularly those that would apply to the middlemen who are running these scams, and for the watchdog, Fair Work, to have greater powers to scrutinise work practices in industries such as fruit picking.
