A plan to fill Australian jobs with US workers might just be a ploy to import cheaper, short-term workers, unions warn.

The ACTU and businesses are on a collision course over a Federal Government plan to allow workers from the United States, such as electricians and plumbers, to get their licence to work in Australia on arrival.

Federal Skills Minister Chris Evans said from mid-April the measure would link Australian employers with skilled workers in the US to fill skill shortages, especially in the civil engineering areas.

However the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) said the plan to fill these jobs with US workers is premature and has called for the skills shortage claims to be investigated independently.



ACTU President Ged Kearney said there had been no independent evidence to back up claims by mining magnates like Gina Rinehart that there weren’t enough Australian workers to meet the needs of future resources projects.



“While resources states such as Western Australia have very low unemployment, workers across the rest of the country are facing increasing rates of insecure work. In fact, the latest ABS figures show that employment in the construction industry is actually falling,” she said.

Ms Kearney said that such a scheme should involve labour market testing and called on the Government to immediately establish a national jobs board for the resources sector to ensure Australian employers are making every effort to employ locally.



Australian and American business groups welcomed the Government announcement today saying that despite the need for skilled workers in Australia and the availability of skilled visas, the number of US citizens taking up the opportunity to work here remains relatively low.



“In contrast to the surplus of skilled workers in the US, Australia has intensifying skill shortages and comparatively low unemployment,” said a joint statement from the Australian Industry Group, the Business Council of Australia, the American Chamber of Commerce in Australia (Amcham), and the US Chamber of Commerce,



“For example, 75 per cent of construction companies recently surveyed in Australia expect they will have major difficulty hiring skilled labour over the next six months.”

The statement said it was a real potential for skilled US workers to temporarily fill the skills gaps in Australia and benefit workers and both economies.



Under existing arrangements US workers need to be assessed onshore which can mean waiting months between entry and starting work.

Under the new skills assessment process, US workers will be assessed against Australian regulatory requirements before entering the country.

Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said the Government was planning to run its overseas Skills Australia Needs expo in the US for the first time to attract skilled workers in the resources, energy and infrastructure sectors.

Senator Evans told reporters the assessment process was available to other nations and it was only logical that it be extended to the US.

A recent Senate inquiry into the shortage of engineering and related skills heard that Australia trains fewer than half the engineers it needs and the skills shortage is preventing some construction projects going ahead.



Engineers Australia (EA) director Brent Jackson told the inquiry's public hearing last week that the answer included controlled skilled migration to arrest engineering shortfalls and better government infrastructure planning to manage workforce needs.



