Canberra building workers picketed the entrance to the Chinese embassy being built in Yarralumla yesterday, in an attempt to disrupt the works.
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As The Canberra Times revealed this week, dozens of Chinese workers on the site have been placed beyond the reach of Australian employment laws, and industrial protections, by working under diplomatic visas.
A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokeswoman said the Chinese embassy had agreed to comply with Australian occupational health and safety standards.
But the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union is furious the Australian Government is allowing workers to operate under diplomatic visas.
ACT branch secretary Dean Hall said given the union had no access to the secretive site, he had serious doubts that authorities could enforce Australian safety standards.
And, he said, the workers would be paid less than their ACT counterparts.
''If you're working under a diplomatic visa, the laws apply from the country of origin,'' Mr Hall said.
''So all the Chinese workers working on that site have Chinese industrial relations laws,'' he said.
The union had particular concerns about occupational health and safety, and industrial standards, saying scaffolding and rigging visible from outside the site did not seem to meet Australian standards.