Do you want wages with that??

A growing trend in the Hotel, Restaurant and Fast Food industry is to pay employees in left over food rather than real wages. Left over food does not pay the rent, feed the kids or help with your mortgage.

Kate Carnell, the chief executive of the ACCI, continues to moan and groan about how hard done employers in this industry are treated.

Two recent examples of exploitation in this industry blow holes in the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industries argument to abolish penalty rates .

La Porchetta

The owner of two La Porchetta restaurants in Melbourne, Ruby Chand, has been prosecuted for underpaying more than 100 teenage employees $260,000 and topping up their low wages with free pizza and soft drink.

All it took for Ruby Chand to be exposed was one complaint from a parent of a teenage employee to uncover another 110 staff members who were underpaid through the two restaurants in Pakenham and Berwick.

The problem with franchises is that they sell the franchises with no guarantee that they offer any back up support such as the legal requirement to ensure that employees are paid the correct wages, including penalty rates ,holidays and OH&S

The whole industry is mired with this example of exploitation. In my opinion, anyone wanting to start a business sets about getting the relevant approval from governments local council etc , and the last thing to enter their minds are employees wages and conditions.

Ruby Chand from La Porchetta was made to reimburse her employees $260,000 and was also fined a further $350,000 .

How many pizzerias, restaurants, cafes, coffee shops are robbing their workers in this way? Thousands and thousands in my opinion!!

A large majority of members of in this industry will do everything in their power to exclude unions from contact with employees to advise them of their rights, wages and conditions.

A lot of members of Kates Carnell’s chamber will use every tactic including calling the police on  union organisers trying to protect workers rights .

This is an industry mired in illegalities, rorts and exploitation on a very large scale. I worked in the industry for ten years representing workers and I have seen every low act employers could conjure up.

No penalty rates here Kate, only examples of your members robbing workers of their wages and conditions. I reckon that’s criminal ,and you support it. Shame!!!

Della Rosa Pizzas

Talking about pizzas, what about the disgraceful example of employees engaged at Della Rosa pizzas in Campbellfield.

Seventeen employees on 417 working visas made to work 12 hour shifts, no penalty rates for working on public holidays, no overtime or proper lunch breaks etc.

The workers were from China, Korea and Italy and when 5 of these employees spoke up they were sacked.

When the union was advised of the treatment, a flash picket was immediately set up surrounding the factory and what happened next belongs in the annals of the trade union handbook.

The boss rang the police, three car loads turned up within minutes. the flash picket remained steadfast, the police went away leaving the owner tearing his hair out that there had been no arrests .

Workers getting robbed and the owner calls the police!!!!!!

Recognising that his factory was still surrounded and the police leaving him like a pizza adorned with Gorgonzola cheese, it was time for the owner of Della Rosa to begin to  negotiate with the union.

The five courageous employees were reinstated, all 17 employees joined the union and agreement was reached to back pay all entitlements. The boss has learnt a valuable lesson about employee relations no matter what country they come from.

Della Rosa pizzas are financial supporters of Melbourne Victory soccer club, wonder if they know that exploiting workers helps to keep their club in a financial position .

PS Employers support hiring people on 417 or 457 visas because they are unaware of their legal rights. The employer knows that they are employing cheap labour, the employer goes out of his way to make sure that people can be paid slave wages and all of this is supported by elements within the Immigration department .

I believe that there are criminal elements within this department allowing employers to be able to exploit workers in this way

The whole scheme of inviting workers to this country for the sole purpose of exploiting them is criminal. It steals jobs that should be available to Australians and mocks them as not having the skills only attributed to workers from third world countries open to being ripped off.

Shame on the Immigration Department