Westfield Southland under fire for plan to hit its own workers with parking fees
MORE than 1300 people have called on Westfield to reverse its “completely unfair” plans to slug Southland workers $5 day to park at the shopping centre.
Inner South
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- Anger over Southland paid parking
- ‘Time to find a new shopping centre’
- Angry shoppers slam ‘greedy’ paid parking
MORE than 1300 people have called on Westfield to give Southland workers a fair go and kill plans to charge them for parking.
State Member for Mordialloc Tim Richardson has circulated a change.org petition calling on Westfield Southland to reconsider slugging workers $5 a day to park in designated staff areas.
He said the charge was “completely unfair” and the online petition had more than 1000 signatures within 24 hours.
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“The workers cannot afford this,” Mr Richardson told Leader.
“Five bucks a day, $25 a week over a 48-week period and if you’re lucky enough to pick up a few extra shifts over Christmas — it’s just too much.”
Westfield Southland has said it would introduce “controlled parking” at the centre to “ensure parking spaces are available for customers and staff, and prevent anticipated pressure on the carpark” when the new Southland train station opened.
Shoppers and staff will have to pay to park when the ‘advanced parking system’ begins operating from October 16.
But Mr Richardson said that fees for employees added up to $1200 a year if a retailer was to work five shifts a week, for 48 weeks of the year.
“We love Westfield Southland, but … surely we can look after the workforce that underpins their prosperity,” he said.
Westfield has revealed shoppers will get the first three hours free, but will then be slugged between $3 and $18, depending on how long they stay.
The $21 million Southland Station is due to open this year, providing direct access to the shopping centre.
The State Government has said it would be the fourth busiest station on the Frankston line, with more than 4000 passengers expected there each day.
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