Guest adamsfamily Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 we have been here since April last year on a 4 year Spronsor Visa (457). We sold our home and brought our two young daughters here and we really love it and see this as our home now. Problem is one of the Managers my husband works for is a bully who is messing with our lives and obviously trying to wind my husband up so that he either does something he will regret or walk off the job. He is speaking to a Union Rep next week but we feel so alone and angry that we have given up everything we had and come here hounuring our side of the Contract and are being put in this position. My husband is slowly getting depressed and he has NEVER suffered with depression and it is starting to affect our family life. We just feel in such ;limbo and don't know where to go for help or what these next weeks hold for us, which is making me feel tearful all the time even though i love it here. Has anyone had anything like this happen to them (obviously i hope not but really appreciate some advice as feel like giving up as we are going to have to go home eventually anyway, so why prolong the obvious), thanks, Nikki. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RonnieRocket0 Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 Hi Nikki, There are a multitude of options which you could explore. The first one being perhaps your husband could in the meantime look for employment elsewhere. I'm sure you may be able to transfer your 457 between employers. As you are already in Australia you could apply for a number of different visas. This would include onshore (as you are currently in Australia), offshore (which would require a short holiday out of Oz, so you could validate your visas by re-entry). Unfortunately I have no idea of your husbands skills/age etc.. so it might be worth dropping a line to migrant agent who is better equipped to help you. The only thing I can recommend is that you try and stick it out until something better comes along and not to make any rash choices. I hope this helps Kind regards Ronnie R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calNgary Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 Hi Nikki sorry to hear your having a bad time at the moment, a friend of mine was in a similar position last year,cut a long story he ended up getting sacked and had the choice of going back to the UK or finding someone to take over the sponsership. He travelled from the top of the sunny coast to the bottom of the gold coast, cold calling on companys and appling for jobs along the way,, in the end he managed to find someone willing to sponser him and just got all the paperwork finished before the deadline. If your hubby thinks his job may go the same way it may worth starting job searching now,,wish him lots of luck and tell him to keep smiling. Cal x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest adamsfamily Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 Thankyou. We have sent my husbands resume to a few Scaffolding companies but it wont be easy. We cannot apply for another visa as he job not on skills list so our only choice is to find another sponsor before they get rid of him which feels only like a matter of time. I probably be best to speak to a migration agent to see if it has to be scaffolding he is sponsored in or can he be sponsored in another area of Construction as he has broad experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest goxian Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 Take a look at my post, maybe it'll help you : http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/jobs-careers/76655-can-agencies-find-us-job.html?highlight=agencies Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gollywobbler Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 Hi Nikki Your situation is dreadful. We had another thread on here some time ago where that British family's situation was dreadful as well. Please see here: http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/migration-issues/48361-sponsorer-ruining-our-lives.html It was all sorted out for Jodie & Dirk in the end but you are right because Dirk is a Plasterer so his skill was on the SOL. Scaffolder is not on the SOL and it is a Group 7 occupation according to the ASCO Code: 1220.0 - Australian Standard Classification of Occupations (ASCO) Second Edition, 1997 The Code number is 7913-11. By getting to Australia in April 2009, you reached Oz just before the Minister shifted the goalposts on the ASCO Group 5 to 7 occupations. Skilled Workers Temporary Visa Options - Employer Sponsored Workers - Workers - Visas & Immigration The upshot with effect from 15th May 2009 is that you now need a new sponsor who has a Labour Agreement with DIAC & DEEWR. At the time, there were a couple of Crane Operators on here who were going to join Freo Machinery in WA to drive huge tower cranes. We also had a Mobile Construction Plant Operator who was talking with Markwell in Townsville. Markwell do a lot of work in the NT and I was speaking with a guy in the NT State migration office who told me about Markwell. They are both also Group 7 occupations. The guy in the NT said that companies like Markwell prefer to hire British operators than anyone else. Apparently the civil engineers who are in charge of the major infrastructure projects like Brits because there are no language problems and the British site safety standards are very similar to the ones used in Oz. Both companies were going through the process of granting Regional 457 visas to the guys when the whole thing suddenly stopped because of the Ministerial Direction of 15th May. Were the two companies going to get Labour Agreements instead? Both are big enough to do so if they want to? The HR people in the companies didn't know and the whole thing went quiet but the 3 Brits were and still are in the UK. Then I happened to speak with an Oz based Registered Migration Agent and he had been speaking with Freo Machinery. He had spoken with someone senior there. This guy had told him that all the big contractors such as Freo and Markwell had put their collective foot down. They think that the Labour Agreements are too cumbersome, too expensive and they think that the old Regional 457 visa is a better fit. The big contractors had decided to call the Minister's bluff. According to the Agent, all of the big contractors do work for the big civil engineers like Leighton Contractors. Everybody senior in DIAC has heard of Wal King of Leighton because he spends his life giving DIAC and the Minister what for. His quotes are recorded in the Wall Street Journal so if he moans, the whole world hears about it. The contractors decided to bide their time. When Wal King says, "Why is this project running over time and over budget? Where are the Crane Operators and earth movers who can get this thing moving?" the contractors planned to shrug and say, "Can't get the operators, Guv. The Aussies won't go to places like the Pilbara Coast in WA to clear the ground for you. Hitherto we've used migrant operators for the work because they will go to the anti-social places. However the Minister has now put the mockers on that, so you complain to the Minister, not to us." Bit by bit the strategy does seem to be working. Very recently I've heard that DIAC have simplified the process of getting the Labour Agreements because the first plan was too laborious and too unwieldy so no-one applied for them. I don't know whether the contractors will bite at the easier arrangements or whether they will take the Minister to the wire by continuing to say "NO", but apparently the above is the background. About a month or two back I also heard of another way of dealing with this. The lady was in the UK and her OH is also a Scaffolder. They have been talking to a company in Oz who reckon that they can get Hubby in to Oz on a standard 457 visa. Apparently they are not going to call him a Scaffolder. They want this man to supervise one or more scaffolding teams and they are going to call him something which is on the SOL. That information is like gold dust so the lady ignored my PM asking which company and what they are going to call OH, but it was worth a go! The lady has gone quiet so I don't know what the eventual outcome has been. The relevant Aussies are as fed up about the Labour Agreement idea as you are, Nikki. However it is true that whereas with a standard 457 the worker can now change employers, he can't do so with impunity if his occupation is in ASC Groups 5-7. In that situation the workers on 457s are being kicked out of Oz because the Minister is convinced that out of work Aussies will come forward to do the work instead. Problem is one of the Managers my husband works for is a bully who is messing with our lives and obviously trying to wind my husband up so that he either does something he will regret or walk off the job. He might have an Aussie mate or he might be giving in to his own desire to be a bully because of Hubby's extreme vulnerability. He is speaking to a Union Rep next week but we feel so alone and angry that we have given up everything we had and come here hounuring our side of the Contract and are being put in this position Speaking with a Union Rep is a good idea. Bullying in the workplace is illegal in Australia so the Manager wants stopping. Has anyone had anything like this happen to them Yes - Jodie has and if you PM her I think she will help. Whereabouts in Oz are you, Nikki? We can get local people to help you as well if we know where you are? Cheers Gill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mongrel Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 Tell him not to back down and give the bastard his own ,if he lets it carry on they will keep at it stand up for yourself ,not talking bout slappin the nob but stand up for himself give him the same back , the nob will probably stop ,do nothing daft and you have the industrial courts on your side , just stand up to the nob and give him the same **** back , it works Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lizzy27 Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 We are on a 457 & and our sponsor is not the nicest person on the planet. He's cut my hubbys wage etc... He's agreed to do the ENS cuz were nearly there.. When things were really bad my husband got really depressed & was sick all the tine cuz the manager at work was being so mean to him. We called our sponsor and went 2 dinner with them, brought our 2 kids, explained how much we've given up to co e here & its not fair how were being treated. You'd b suprised what a candid chat can do. Work still isn't fantastic but it's doable and my hubby don't mind going note. Theyre not mean to him. Maybe if he sees u as a famy unit?? It worked for us. I just glad we only got 6 weeks left til we put in for pr!! Gill, do you know if they are still processing those quite quickly?? ENS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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