'Guestploitation' in the hospitality industry

November 17, 1993
Issue 

Tim Stewart, Canberra

Legal action launched by two Filipino guest workers last week has lifted the lid on wage exploitation and racism in the hospitality industry in the ACT.

The Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union (LHMU) has learned of contract staff working 12-hour shifts in hot kitchens without a break, gross underpayment for working 60-hour weeks, and a case of leave for medical treatment being refused after a woman suffered severe burns on the job.

When workers have taken these matters to the union, their shifts have been cancelled and they have been threatened with deportation. In the worst instance, chef Dario De Guzman, facing extreme humiliation and discrimination, resigned and took out an apprehended violence order against his former employer, the Holy Grail restaurant.

Recruited by industry agencies overseas, guest workers pay $1500 and pass a trade skills test before being placed with an employer in Australia. "The workers are brought out to Australia with promises of good jobs and pay, but some have found these promises are being ignored", explained David Bibo, the LHMU's ACT organiser. "Behind some of the expensive fit-outs of Canberra's growing cafe-restaurants there is a simmering culture of racial abuse, worker harassment and wages theft", he said.

Some of the tricks used by the employers concerned include pay slips that fail to mention the total number of hours worked and deductions for superannuation or Medicare levies.

When Napoleon Arrieta, a guest worker and spokesperson for others, pointed out to his employer the underpayment of wages to the tune of $500 a week he was told that the staff were "trainees". In fact, their employment contracts and visas stated that they were employed as regular chefs.

In an affidavit lodged with the Philippines Embassy, Arrieta said he had worked at least 60 hours a week without any overtime pay, yet his contract specified a 38-hour week. He also said he was not paid mandated rates for work on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.

The LHMU says on its website: "The Department of Immigration seems to have created a loop-hole for the restaurant owners: deeming the national capital a regional area, not a metropolitan area. Canberra restaurateurs have been given a big dollar incentive to exploit these guest workers by allowing them to ignore the Federal Award."

Bibo told GLW that this is why "some hospitality employers in Canberra have been able to legally claim wages of $29,182 a year, when [workers] on a federal award should expect around $39,000 a year for a 38-hour week, the same as their co-workers in Melbourne and Sydney".

The union is lodging complaints with the ACT Human Rights Commissioner about the treatment of particular guest workers, and with the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations about the underpayment of wages.

From Green Left Weekly, February 8, 2006.
Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.


You need Green Left, and we need you!

Green Left is funded by contributions from readers and supporters. Help us reach our funding target.

Make a One-off Donation or choose from one of our Monthly Donation options.

Become a supporter to get the digital edition for $5 per month or the print edition for $10 per month. One-time payment options are available.

You can also call 1800 634 206 to make a donation or to become a supporter. Thank you.