Getting yourself heard over the clamour of 50 makeshift steel drums is no easy task. Many on Melbourne’s Collins Street learned this the hard way during a recent Anti-Poverty Week action for international student workers.

On 17 October, 100 people marched to a Collins Street address at which the Glad Group hold the cleaning contract. The Glad Group is one of the worst offenders in an industry notorious for paying pitifully low wages.

Parvitar Singh, an information technology student by day and cleaner for Glad by night, told Red Flag, “Students come to Australia for a better life, and they end up living in poverty.” The chasm between the expectations of international students and the reality was a theme often repeated at the rally.

United Voice, the union representing cleaners, has released a report on the conditions for many international students in Australia. A quarter of those surveyed receive just $10 an hour, and 60 percent are paid less than the minimum wage.

On top of the terrible pay, many also report an array of extra issues including workplace intimidation and discrimination.

 “What can happen is a group of international students, perhaps Chinese students or Indian students, might start working in a building, and they find they are systematically treated differently from the other cleaners”, explained the Victorian secretary of United Voice, Jess Walsh, speaking to the ABC.

Despite their frustrations, there are real barriers to international student fighting back. As well as a lack of time, there is an understandable reluctance to protest because of visa concerns. Sadly, despite the atrocious conditions, many fear losing an income source all together.

The impact of these factors means there is serious work to be done to build the confidence of international student workers and improve their conditions.