Lightning fast win – solidarity and direct action work!

The back story

SydSol and the ASF-IWA were contacted by Melinda, Sheila, Suko and Ulya, working holiday makers from Indonesia who worked at a factory in May and June and still had not been paid. They had collectively worked 34 days and were owed over $4,000, but despite promises (to pay… always later) they had not seen a cent.

Time for action

With our support, the workers protested a restaurant in Auburn owned by the same person as the factory they had worked at on 26 August. We gave out leaflets, chanted, talked to people passing by and made the situation known. Now thanks to SydSol and ASF-IWA supporters as well as public support from the community, the workers were finally paid today 29 August.

Thank you to all involved, and keep an eye out for similar situations – this story demonstrates that collective action can be very powerful. Share it and inspire those around you to fight social injustice inflicted on themselves or others! Sign up to our supporters email list, to get updates and action alerts: http://eepurl.com/UGQev and contact SydSol for support in your fights.

Today 26 August 2017, SydSol and the ASF-IWA took action in Auburn in support of four workers who were exploited at Fresh Cut, a factory owned by [Auburn restaurant]’s owner, without receiving any pay. Melinda, Sheila, Suko and Ulya working holiday makers from Indonesia, were promised $120 per day, working 5-6 hours daily at a vegetable processing factory. They collectively worked 34 days in May and June and are owed a total of $4,080.

The boss also owns [a restaurant in Auburn] and never paid a cent in spite of multiple requests and reminders. SydSol is protesting this abuse at the restaurant, more susceptible to public pressure. The workers contacted the ASF-IWA and SydSol for help and are demanding the boss pay them the full $4,080 they are owed: Melinda 10 days, Ulya 6 days, Sheila 3 days and Suko 15 days.

With your help, SydSol will continue to protest and let potential customers know about how the restaurant owner handles his factory business and treats workers. We have had great community response, with an overwhelming majority of passersby showing interest and support for our action. Let’s keep this up until all wages are paid! Together we are strong and we will overcome.

Keep up to date with our action, sign up to our mailing list and make sure SydSol’s emails don’t end up in your spam or promotions folder!

Note: we edited the restaurant’s name out of the post and picture as a courtesy once they paid the workers.

Come to the next Sydney Solidarity organising meeting where we will be discussing possible upcoming actions. All SydSol supporters are welcome – please invite your friends.

SydSol organising meetings are usually held at 6pm, last Thursday of the month, at Jura Books (440 Parramatta Rd, Petersham). Feel free to email us to confirm the next meeting’s date and time.

Come to the first Sydney Solidarity organising meeting for 2017. We’ll be discussing possible upcoming actions and more. All SydSol supporters are welcome – please invite your friends – you can use with the hashtag #sydneysolidarity on social media.

SydSol organising meeting: 6pm Wednesday 1st February, at Jura Books (440 Parramatta Rd, Petersham).

Victory at Leichhardt café!

Solidarity and direct action win the day

The back story

Sydney Solidarity Network was contacted by CJ, a worker who was exploited and sexually harassed. She is a traveler on a working holiday visa who started working at a café in Leichhardt in early March. There were problems from the beginning. The boss would continually try to touch her and other women against their will. She was paid only $17 per hour, which is below the Restaurant Award wage ($22.24 on weekdays and $26.69 on weekends, for casuals).

The pay was cash-in-hand, and the boss would always pay late. No contracts were signed and the boss never asked for their tax file numbers. There were other workers who were fired on the spot, with no notice, for no reason. When CJ spoke up, she was taken off the shift roster, with no notice. She decided to quit. She asked the boss to pay her outstanding wages (at $17 per hour): $433.50. He refused, and one of the supervisors slapped the face of CJ’s friend who was there to support her. The cops were called but they didn’t help CJ, but instead told her to come back a few days later as the boss requested. When she came back the boss only paid her $200 and withheld the rest ‘for damages to property’ – a completely fictitious claim.

So CJ contacted SydSol and asked for help to get back her stolen wages. Together, we demanded that the boss pay CJ the full $1,108.70 she was owed – which would bring her wages up to the award minimum for the hours she worked.

Exploitative, violent, disrespectful, and sexist behaviour by bosses, supervisors and cops is all too common – in the hospitality industry and elsewhere. But in this case, the workers decided to stand up and say “NO!”

Sydney Solidarity Network takes action

Over a two week period, SydSol organised 3 actions at the café. The actions were lively and energetic, with chanting, singing, banners, placards and leaflets. Between 20 and 40 SydSol supporters came to each action. During the actions we gave out almost 1,000 leaflets to passersby, telling CJ’s story. We had lots of conversations and caused much discussion on the busy Leichhardt street! Most passersby were very supportive. Each action lasted for around 2 hours, during which time almost no customers went to the café.
At first the boss refused to pay. He started off trying to ignore us, but soon found that didn’t work. He then became more antagonistic, publishing defamatory messages about the ex-worker, throwing buckets of water at the protestors and threatening to break someone’s arm! The boss called the police a number of times, but no arrests were made. He even hired musicians to try to drown our our chanting! But we kept going!

Victory!

After the third action the boss paid the full amount owed to CJ. We won! As part of the settlement, SydSol participants agreed to remove the name of the café from our website and social media posts.

CJ was overjoyed and even decided to donate part of the money she was paid to Grandmothers Against Removals, and an activist legal fund, to spread the solidarity!

Another worker from the same café also quit during the period SydSol was taking action, because of similar issues with her employment. However that worker told us that, to her surprise, the boss paid her what she was owed – almost certainly because of our actions!

This was a great campaign, which resulted in a real victory for workers. We came together as a solidarity network and strengthened our organisation and ability to take action. We showed the power of direct action – action taken by oppressed people ourselves, on our own terms, and in our own interests.

What next?

Sydney Solidarity Network continues – but we need you!

Sign up to our supporters email list, to get updates and action alerts: http://eepurl.com/UGQev and get your friends to sign up too!

Come along to our meeting/picnic at 3pm on Saturday 14th May in Camperdown Park, followed by celebratory drinks from 5pm at the Courthouse Hotel in Newtown. (In case of poor weather, we’ll be in the Courthouse Hotel from 3pm.) We need more people to get involved in the SydSol organising group!

Share this story on social media and tell your friends about it!

We also ask you to think about any issues in your own life, and the lives of your friends and families, to identify the problems in your workplace and your community. Problems which can be changed through direct action – like underpayments, bullying, landlords refusing to do repairs, or real estate agents evicting you without reason. And get in touch about taking action together to fix these problems!

Since last week, SydSol has been taking action in support of CJ, a worker who was harassed and exploited during her time as a staff member at [a café] in Leichhardt.

CJ began working at [a café in Leichhardt] in early March, and there were problems from the beginning. The boss would continually try to touch her and other women against their will. She was paid only $17 per hour, which is far below the Restaurant Award minimum wage ($22.24 on weekdays and $26.69 on weekends, for casuals).

The pay was cash-in-hand, and the boss would always pay late. No contracts were signed and the boss never asked for their tax file numbers. Some workers were fired on the spot, with no notice, for no reason. When CJ spoke up, she was taken off the shift roster. She decided to quit. She asked the boss to pay her outstanding wages (at $17 per hour): $433.50. He refused, and one of the supervisors even physically assaulted CJ’s friend who was there to support her. Eventually, the boss only paid her $200 and withheld the rest ‘for damages to property’ – a completely fictitious claim.

CJ contacted SydSol and asked for help to get back her stolen wages. CJ is demanding the boss pay her the full $1,108.70 she is owed – which would bring her wages up to the legal award minimum for the hours she worked.

So far, the boss is not paying, and until he does SydSol is organising regular protests to let potential customers know how [this café] treats its staff. The response from passers-by has been extremely positive. The boss is also clearly feeling the pressure, threatening and behaving aggressively towards SydSol members, assaulting a female protester and even throwing large buckets of water at several people.

Exploitative, violent, sexist behaviour by bosses and supervisors is all too common – both in hospitality and elsewhere. But when we stand up together, we can show that we don’t have to put up with it!