Commonwealth Games security staff ’dudded’ on pay

SECURITY staff at the Commonwealth Games who were short-changed on pay have been told they will be lucky if it’s fixed before June as GOLDOC and security contractors pass the buck.

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SECURITY staff at the Commonwealth Games who were short-changed on pay have been told they will be lucky if it’s fixed before June, with neither GOLDOC nor security contractors taking responsibility for the bungle.

Some staff were told they had been short-changed because GOLDOC’s time and attendance system failed to properly record their hours.

A spokesman for GOLDOC confirmed some staff had been underpaid, but he denied an “eight-hour outage” of the system had anything to do with it.

“The contracted security companies are responsible for invoicing GOLDOC directly for any outstanding amounts owed, and GOLDOC has paid all invoices received,” he said.

“All guards will be paid what is due to them.”

Deception Bay woman Janelle Wakeham, who was contracted to SECUREcorp through Primary Security to work in Townsville during the Games, said she regretted ever signing up.

After complaining that she was missing $1500 in pay, she was told she would be lucky to see it before June because GOLDOC had not kept proper records.

“If I’d known then what the conditions were like, I wouldn’t have done it,” she said.

“At a meeting with (Primary Security), I was told I’d be lucky if it was sorted out before June.

“I’m really annoyed actually. We were under the impression that we’d be looked after while we were away, but it was a case of ‘look after yourselves, and by the way, you’ll get paid when you get paid’.”

Some Commonwealth Games security staff face a long wait to be paid. Picture: Richard Gosling

A spokeswoman for SECUREcorp said the delay was out of their control, and efforts were being made to deliver payments to affected workers.

Single mother-of-three Eletha Goodrick of Kippa-Ring also worked in Townsville, but for MSS Security. She said not only was she forced to pay for her own meals after being told they would be provided, she was still waiting for $1000 in overtime payments.

“I’m really disappointed by it all. I hear on the news the CEO and top dog got their payouts, but what about us?” she said.

Five GOLDOC executives received $650,000 in bonuses after the Games. MSS Security did not return calls from The Sunday Mail.

LNP leader Deb Frecklington said people planned their household budgets around their payday and it caused real hardship when the money didn’t come through.

She said it was hypocritical that only a week ago, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk ordered an inquiry into “wage theft”.

“Labor’s Commonwealth Games screw-ups are still going, and the scandal of missing wages is the worst of all.

“(They have) rewarded GOLDOC executives for failure and allowed ordinary workers to be dudded,” she said.