Labourer job ads remain in RHH saga

ADVERTISEMENTS remain on a Chinese news and classifieds website seeking labourers to work on the Royal Hobart Hospital redevelopment.

Two people have posted six ads on website Yeeyi calling for plasterers with valid visas and documentation to work on the $689 million project for up to 13 months.

The most recent ad was posted on July 30 this year.

One listing said prospective employees would enjoy a friendly team environment. In reality, about 100 foreign workers were allegedly unpaid for up to nine weeks and eventually booted from their supplied accommodation after downing tools in protest.

Development managing contractor John Holland-Fairbrother has since terminated its contract with subcontractor Accuracy Interiors after the Melbourne business failed to prove it was solvent. Workers with valid visas interested in continuing with the project have been offered a position under the new subcontractor, which is yet to be announced.

The people who listed the Yeeyi ads did not return the Mercury’s calls.

The foreign workers — most of whom were from China — were understood to have been placed in six houses throughout Hobart while working on the RHH project.

Records show four of the properties were bought in April this year, and two of those are owned by the same China-linked, Melbournebased company that purports to offer services including property development, real es- tate, immigration, education and wealth management.

The Construction, Forestry, Mining, Maritime and Energy Union said workers had been allowed to return to two of the properties but the rest had been placed in cabins in a Hobart caravan park.

John Holland-Fairbrother did not know how much workers were owed late Thursday, and did not respond to request for comment yesterday.

One plasterer told the Mercury he had not received his backpay — estimated to be $14,000 — by close of business before the weekend, despite earlier reassurances from John Holland-Fairbrother.

The Australian Building and Construction Commission has confirmed it has launched an investigation on the worksite. A spokesman said the investigation was ongoing, so ABCC was unable to comment further.