Transport Minister Rita Saffioti brushes off Metronet sham contracting concerns after worker’s lunch nap death

Transport Minister Rita Saffioti has brushed off concerns of widespread “sham contracting” across Metronet projects after a Chinese national working on Bayswater Station was killed on his lunch break. After Fengwen Geng was hit by a car and killed while napping in a park on March 14, the CFMEU claimed he was just one example of rampant foreign worker exploitation on State Government projects. The union claims Mr Geng was not covered by the enterprise agreement with the head contractor but was employed three steps down the subcontracting chain as if he were an independent business owner. The setup meant he was deprived of basic entitlements like sick leave and superannuation — and his devastated family has no hope of receiving the $300,000 death cover payment applicable to workers engaged through the head contractor EBA. Asked if the Cook Government was looking into sham contracting across its multi-billion dollar construction pipeline, Ms Saffioti offered her sympathies and stressed it was a motor vehicle accident, not a workplace accident. “We understand there’s been some concerns about the way that subcontractors have been employed,” she told reporters on Sunday, pointing to the State Government improving its procurement processes. Ms Saffiotti also pointed to the Federal Government’s controversial “same job, same pay” IR reforms as helping to stamp out sham contracting. “So we’ve been working on this and of course, in relation to our projects, we’re confident that the workers on those projects are above award rates and working under good conditions,” the Minister said. Premier Roger Cook was asked whether an ex gratia payment to Mr Geng’s family was being considered. “I haven’t received any advice in relation to that and indeed, enquiries, an investigation into that man’s death are ongoing,” Mr Cook said. “But as the Minister said, we are changing a lot of things in relation to the way we procure these projects, to make sure that the wages and conditions which are provided for the primary contractor flow on to the subcontractor. “In this particular case, it was a subcontractor with an ABN going about his business.”