Glencore's Overseas Hires Spark Labor Debate

0:00On this March 4th in Sydney, here's what is making headlines. Glencore, a major mining company, plans to bring in nearly 30 skilled workers from overseas to its Mount East operations in Northwest Queensland. These workers, mainly from Zambia and the Philippines, will star roles in the coming months to fill critical shortages in technical positions. The company says this is just a small part of a larger push to hire over 100 people locally. In the past five months, Glencore offered 270 permanent jobs to its current workforce of about 2150, converting many from fly-in fly-out contractors to full-time town residents. Local politician Robbie Catter and the Australian Workers Union have pushed back hard. They argue Glencore should prioritize Australian workers first and offer competitive wages to attract them, calling the overseas hires a way to keep. Pay low. Glencore's top executive, Troy Wilson, defends the move by pointing to a national skills gap. He notes the high quality of

1:00these international artisans and technicians, while stressing ongoing efforts like apprenticeships to build up the local workforce. Meanwhile, workers at Mount Issa are negotiating a new wage deal with the company, which has been dragging on since last year. Union leaders say, current pay falls short of industry standards, and they warn against using migration to side-step better offers for Aussies. Special thanks to our sponsor for supporting this episode. Comfort, you can hear. Sound you can relax into. S-O-L-I, solelypillow.com.