Geelong workers picket 7-Eleven
Article written by Christie Peucker in the Geelong Advertiser September 18th, 2009
DISGRUNTLED ex-employees of Moorabool St’s 7-Eleven will picket the convenience store’s South Yarra franchise this afternoon where their former boss has interests.
The workers will join dozens of fast food and retail workers who are members of the union UNITE, which claims the former franchisee Eddie Chan withheld more than $100,000 in unpaid wages during his time as owner of the Geelong store.
UNITE claims Mr Chan has refused to co-operate with the Fair Work Ombudsman, which launched an investigation into several stores in January for their treatment of international students they employed. So far the Ombudsman has recovered more than $150,000 in stolen wages, but none has been paid back by Mr Chan.
UNITE secretary Anthony Main said protesters would rally from 5pm to 6pm outside the South Yarra store on Domain Rd, opposite the Royal Botanic Gardens.
“I think his customers need to know that he is treating his workers with contempt,” he said.
“At least 12 or 13 staff we’ve come into contact with are from overseas and weren’t aware of minimum wages and loading on weekends.”
Mr Main said several workers employed by Mr Chan from 2003 to 2009 were paid a flat rate of just $10 per hour, with some forced to do an unpaid trial for up to two months.
The Ombudsman’s office could not confirm yesterday if it would seek to prosecute Mr Chan for the unpaid amounts.
Mr Main also slammed 7-Eleven’s head office saying it had a moral obligation to prevent franchisees from breaking work practices.
7-Eleven corporate chief operating officer David Ginsberg said, while it did not condone Mr Chan’s behaviour, it was powerless to do anything now he had ceased his franchise agreement.