THE BYRON SHIRE Volume 25 #36 Tuesday, February 15, 2011 Mullumbimby 02 6684 1777 Byron Bay 02 6685 5222 Fax 02 6684 1719 editor@echo.net.au adcopy@echo.net.au www.echo.net.au 23,000 copies every week
1 1 0 2 F F Y B A BB Y R O N B DON’T LET THE SNIFFER DOGS LIE
Local musos playing for Piece
L I O N A R N A T L A V I N T E I FEST 2 0 FILM A G E P S E E
Crackdown on underpaying workers National watchdog running investigations around Byron, Lismore operators fined Ray Moynihan
The watchdog policing cases of underpayment has told The Echo it is running a number of investigations ‘in the areas around Byron Bay’ which are ‘ongoing.’ Australia’s Fair Work Ombudsman is targeting businesses big and small for failing to pay people award rates, including overtime, casual loadings and holiday pay. In the latest case, the watchdog is pursuing legal action against a nursery near Lismore, claiming almost twenty employees were under paid and are owed more than $30,000. That action follows a major settlement announced last week with a Lismore café, which agreed to pay back Local musicians Dave Ades and Tommee helped celebrate the first birthday of Art Piece gallery in Mullumbimby last almost $140,000 to over seventy staff, Friday night. Photo Jeff ‘The Joy Of Sax’ Dawson and an agreement last month with the giant Toys‘R’Us which reimbursed almost 1,000 employees after underpaying them to the tune of $1 million.
Sniffer dogs spark Byron brawl Hans Lovejoy
A large scale fight broke out Saturday night on the Jonson Street roundabout, Byron Bay, between Local Area Command (LAC) police and a large group of men. A business operator, who did not want to be named, told The Echo there were up to 100 witnesses. ‘A sniffer dog flanked by officers wandered into a large group of muscly men, and then all shit broke loose.’ The Echo’s source lamented the damage done to the town’s image from the incursion. ‘It’s hard enough without this. It seems like an unnecessary use of police powers and is plain intimidation. It’s a real civil rights concern. ‘I heard from reliable sources that many of the long-time locals who were in the pubs were also treated by
police in an aggressive manner over the weekend.’ Detective Inspector Shane Diehm of LAC confirmed the incident with The Echo, however said he was not present and did not wish to make comment on the incident, nor the behaviour of the officers. ‘This is an ongoing operation into antisocial behaviour,’ he said, ‘and there were a number of arrests made.’ Insp Diehm declined to confirm the police numbers in the operation. As for the pubs it was business as usual in Byron Bay on Saturday night. The Beach Hotel’s manager Elke Van Haandel told The Echo that sniffer dogs had come through the premises on the Friday night, ‘but nothing more than usual. We get it all the time, but maybe on the streets people feel more compromised,’ she said. Hannah Mooney from The Rails
said that they too did not experience anything out of the ordinary over the weekend. ‘They were doing their sniffer-dog thing – they do their walk-through with the dogs, but we’re not a venue with a history. ‘Two paddy wagons did happen to pull in at the same time which would have looked pretty funny, but one left when it saw the other one there. They’re just doing their thing. It is confronting seeing that many police at once and they were definitely around and definitely a heavier presence than normal. ‘I think it’s not bad to have a heavier than usual presence… but they’re friendly and were here for less than five to ten minutes.’ Anyone with footage/images of Saturday’s melee can contact The Echo through editor@echo.net.au.
Award wage rates
Awards for retail and hospitality are little more than the national minimum wage of $15 a hour, with basic pay for waiters starting around $16 a hour, and check-out operators around $17. For casuals the hourly rates are automatically higher, taking waiters and check-out operators to $20 or more an hour. People under aged 20 are paid less, but awards also spell out overtime rates of up to double time, and allowances for things like clothing and travel. Byron United president Sevegne Newton said businesses should always pay employees what’s correct. ‘That’s the law. You have to pay the award.’ She added that while some local businesses were doing the wrong Q See editorial page 10 thing, part of the explanation was ig-
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norance and part was the difficulty understanding award scales, which she argued should be made more accessible. However Ms Newton emphasised to The Echo ‘there’s no excuse for business not paying the correct wage rates.’ According to a statement of claim tendered in court, the Futures Green nursery near Lismore breached laws on minimum hourly rates, overtime and annual leave between 2006 and 2009. A total of 19 adults and teenagers are allegedly owed almost $31,000, with several people owed more than $3,000 each. The watchdog wants it all repaid, with penalties on top for breaking the law. The nursery director Mr Garry Payne, who has already fixed some underpayments, is quoted as saying during a meeting with watchdog inspectors that he ‘did not agree with the award’. Contacted by The Echo, My Payne declined to comment on the allegations, saying they were before the court, with a hearing planned for early next month. With the case of the Coffee Club in Lismore, the principal John Kenny has avoided an extended legal battle by signing an agreement which means he has to report his staff ’s wage rates to the national watchdog for the next three years. The original underpayment came to light after a complaint by a former employee, and Mr Kenny has already apologised and repaid close to $45, 000 of the $140,000 owed to more than seventy present and former staff. A spokesperson for the Fair Work Ombudsman confirmed there were ongoing investigations in the Byron area, but said he was prevented by law from revealing the names of the businesses involved. If you have any evidence of underpayment, you can contact the Fair Work Ombudsman at 13 13 94.