Sitting in the reception of Marrickville Prestige Smash Repairs (MPSR) in Sydney I am introduced to three of the shop's Filipino workers; Juanito Balite, Jouito Gutierrez and Manolito Gutierrez (Jouito and Manolito are cousins).
They've taken time out from their work to discuss the differences between working in shops here in Australia, compared to nations they've previously worked in, such as Qatar and Sudan.
All three have moved here in the past three months with the hope of finding a better future for themselves and their families.
The first point all three of them jump to make is how much they love being in Australia, not to mention how much they like their “boss man”, MPSR owner Johnny Karvasilias.
“It's much better here, Australia is an easier and less troublesome place to work,” Balite says.
He explains the reason behind this is policy and regulation. He says in Qatar and Sudan the rules and regulations are not as rigorous and do not benefit the safety and wellbeing of workers.
Jouito and Manolito both wholeheartedly agree. Jouito points out that the shops they had previously worked in overseas lacked the organisation that Australian shops do.
“We are all cramped together, the painters and panel beaters all work in the same space. There is no separation between the two and its very, very difficult to get things done like that.”
The typeof work also differs. In Qatar and Sudan the level of vehicle damage is much higher, with major accidents often not being written off and instead needing to be completely repaired.
“It's very tricky, here we only do maybe a bumper or one or two panels, back there it's big damage. Small jobs don't come in very often, it is always big crashes or very bad damage,” says Manolito.
Manolito says this was also a factor for workers such as himself coming out to Australia.
The three men are not alone as Jouoito says many of their friends and family work for the Gemini Collision Repair Group and all of them keep in touch through community channels.
As for training, most of what they have learned overseas has been transferable to the work they do here in Australia, with what they don't know being taught on the job.
Looking to the future they all seem excited by the though of continuing to work and live in Australia.
And having already made it through summer, they are sure the work can only get even better.