Overseas workers denied union rights

Services giant Ventia has been taken to task after hiring Filipino workers under contracts denying them their union rights.

One of NSW's largest services companies has been penalised after threatening foreign workers with dismissal if they joined a union.

Ventia Services, previously known as Thiess Services, hired 10 workers from the Philippines in 2013 to work on sites in Western Australia and Victoria under a contract effectively preventing them from engaging in union activity.

The group then lost their jobs or were reassigned, prompting them to contact the Electrical Trades Union, which raised concerns with Thiess and the Fair Work Ombudsman.

While it appeared to be an error of "poor governance" rather than a deliberate attempt to deprive workers of their rights, the union ban was still "black and white" in their contract and caused anxiety to the workers, Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James said.

"The right of workers in Australia to join, or not join, a union is a fundamental freedom enshrined in the statute books," she said in a statement on Wednesday.

Ventia is half owned by construction giant Cimic, which is building the WestConnex motorways project in Sydney.

As part of the make-up agreement with Fair Work, Ventia has to make a $50,000 donation to the Philippines-Australia Community Services group to help promote workplace rights.

The state's peak union body, Unions NSW, described Ventia's practice as disgraceful.

"Threatening workers with the sack if they join a union is not just a disgraceful workplace practice, it cuts against the grain of what it means to live and work in Australia," Unions NSW secretary Mark Morey said.

"Any employer found guilty of threatening workers for joining a union should have the book thrown at them."

Ventia has signed a workplace pact and agreed to overhaul its overseas recruitment practices.