Govt's 457 attack hypocritical: Morrison THE federal opposition has accused Labor of rank hypocrisy after reports ALP national vice-president Tony Sheldon hired overseas workers on 457 visas. Mr Sheldon, who is also national secretary of the Transport Workers Union, told The Australian newspaper that his chief of staff at the union, Dermot Ryan, media officer Barry Dunning and senior organiser Celia Petty were employed on 457 visas. Mr Sheldon previously has echoed other Labor officials in accusing some employers of misusing the visas. The visa holders had no real right to join a union without their employer sacking them and once fired they could be deported within 28 days unless they found another job, he said in March. It was "no exaggeration" to say that for some workers, the 457 visa was a form of slavery. Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said Mr Sheldon's work practices show Labor's claims that the 457 visa program was being rorted were a stunt. "It's not just the hypocrisy in the union movement, it's hypocrisy in the prime minister's own office," he told Sky News on Wednesday, referring to Julia Gillard's communication director John McTernan who is also on a 457 visa. I wonder if (Mr Sheldon has) got these workers shackled to their desk as he was claiming that employers that use 457 visas do. The government's "skilled migration attack" was nothing more than a distraction from Labor's border protection failures, Mr Morrison said. "It's a stunt, always has been," he said. It's absurd and it's rank hypocrisy. Ms Gillard has expressed concerns the 457 visa program is being abused by employers and Australian workers are missing out on jobs.