Give migrant workers the vote: union

The Transport Workers' Union wants migrant workers to be given the vote and to have their health insurance and children's public education paid for.

Migrant workers should be given the right to vote and have their children's public education paid for by employers, the Transport Workers Union believes.

The union's national secretary Tony Sheldon also wants to see workers from overseas given mandatory access to union representation so they know their rights.

"If employers want to bring migrant workers into Australia then they must be held responsible for ensuring they can share in the Australian way of life," he said after making the call at the start of the union's National Council in Melbourne on Monday.