7-Eleven slave labour bastardry not the Australian way

Maybe I live in a deluded world but I struggle with the concept of slave labour in Australia.

To my mind, other countries might accept this cruel, demeaning, greedy persecution of another human being – but we Australians do not.

But it seems we do…  We should be ashamed and we should be doing something about it.

7-Eleven, the convenience store and petrol outlet, is the latest and perhaps worst case because it is reported as being so widespread. A Four Corners/Fairfax Media joint investigation has revealed a 7-Eleven Head Office review of 225 franchisees found 69 per cent – that’s 155 separate franchisees or employers – were guilty of falsifying payroll and roster records to hide underpaying staff. The review was of just one month of records by the way.

This level of organisation-wide cruelty and illegal behavior is not a one-off. It appears to be a culture throughout this particular company.

This level of organisation-wide cruelty and illegal behavior is not a one-off. It appears to be a culture throughout this particular company. And fish stinks from the head down.

How does it work? It’s called the ‘Half Pay Scam’. The worker, usually an immigrant or foreign student, is required to work 40 hours a week and paid $12 an hour, compared to the award of $24.69. The franchisee then fills out the roster records to say they worked 20 hours and records a family member as having worked the other 20 hours and receiving the balance of the pay.

Licenses taken as leverage

Adding to the ‘slave labour’ label, 7-Eleven reports that passports and drivers licenses have been taken from staff by franchisees as leverage to keep people working.

This is not unique to 7-Eleven. In the last few months for instance, abattoir operator, Teys in Wagga was named on The 7.30 Report as hiding behind a labour hire company AWX to pay low wages – which they deny.

Why do people accept such treatment? Desperation mostly. Foreign country, little money to live on while trying to study, a timid nature, fear of loss of respect at home. It all adds up.

7-Eleven worth $665 million

But what of the Australians who prey on these vulnerable humans? The ‘upstanding employers’. We demonise people smugglers but aren’t these people just the same? I think so and we should let the likes of 7-Eleven know by talking to everyone we know about their attitude until they change it – or go out of business to be replaced by an ethical operator.

By the way, 7-Eleven is owned by Russell Withers, his sister Beverley Barlow and their spouses. They are worth $665 million, according to BRW.  And they say a fish rots from the head down.