Aldi contractors ‘treated like slaves'

ALDI says it is investigating allegations from two former workers that they were “treated like slaves” in the supermarket’s warehouse.

ALDI says it is investigating allegations by two former subcontractors that they were “treated like slaves” while working for the supermarket.

Korean nationals Youngpil Ko and Gyeongho Oh, both in their mid-20s, allege they were exploited and underpaid while working at an Aldi warehouse in Brisbane for a period of five weeks 18 months ago.

Maurice Blackburn principal Giri Sivaraman, who gave evidence at a Senate hearing into corporate avoidance of the Fair Work Act in Brisbane on Thursday, said the pair worked at the Aldi site wrapping, unwrapping and loading pallets, through “what appears to be a labour-hire company”.

“It’s very unclear,” he said. “They say they were told to stay in accommodation at Chermside [in Brisbane’s north] and were picked up and driven to the site, and all accommodation and travel costs would be taken out of their pay.

“Both were given a flat rate for the work, irrespective of hours, did weekend work, sometimes starting as early as 4am, did 10-hour days. They were told it was an ‘ABN job’, they had to have their own ABNs.”

Mr Ko claims he was partially paid for two weeks, and Mr Oh did not receive any pay. Mr Sivaraman says both are owed an estimated $5000 in unpaid wages.

“They tried dealing with the person they initially spoke to — all they know is his name is Jimmy — who is also Korean, it would seem. Jimmy said the money was coming, then vanished.”

The pair took action against the labour hire firm whose vests they wore while on site but a claim with the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal was thrown out on the basis they could not establish any direct relationship with the business.

“The reality is the law is against us, because the law allows these types of labour hire organisations and the disbursement of responsibility,” Mr Sivaraman said. “It’s very difficult as the law currently stands to make a case against Aldi. Labour hire employees are effectively denied access to unfair dismissal rights.”

Woolworths and Coles have faced issues in the past with alleged exploitation of trolley collectors employed by labour-hire firms. Mr Sivaraman said exploitation was “very widespread”. “It’s happening in every state and territory, multiple industries, you’ll see it in hospitality, retail, warehousing, mining, so it’s rampant,” he said.

“The law needs to change. The first step would be a labour-hire licensing scheme. If you can get the rogue operators out that would be a really important step. What then needs to come is some kind of liability for the principal.

“The principal can’t just say this isn’t our problem, labour hirers are doing it and it’s their issue, we don’t have any responsibility for it. When they’ve engaged the labour-hire operator and the principal is blind to it or doesn’t take any reasonable steps to ensure the people they’re dealing with are going to obey the law, there needs to be some liability.”

Maurice Blackburn principal Giri Sivaraman. Picture: David Kelly

A former Aldi Brisbane store manager told news.com.au he saw “many staff come and go due to being ‘nonproductive’ or slow” during his two years at the supermarket.

“At the time I was employed with Aldi, they were using recruitment agency Drake,” he said. “Drake would hire the staff, they would then be contract staff, and if they weren’t quick enough, productive enough or slow, Drake would then receive a phone call and those staff were no longer required.”

He backed claims by two former store managers — denied by Aldi — that staff face the sack if they do not meet quotas such as number of items scanned or pallets unloaded per hour.

A spokeswoman told news.com.au earlier this month that there were “no official targets set for the number of items staff are required to scan per hour or number of pallets loaded”, but the former Brisbane manager said “scan rate and pallet unloading was an unwritten expectation in the Aldi world”.

An Aldi spokeswoman said the supermarket “takes all allegations of misconduct relating to our contractors seriously and is committed to the highest standards of responsible behaviour in all our relationships”.

“Aldi is currently conducting thorough investigations of all claims,” she said. “At Aldi Australia, we pride ourselves on the quality of our employees and seek to provide a working environment that fosters a high level of career development and employee satisfaction.

“We expect all of our contractors, as direct business partners, to comply with the ‘Aldi Social Standards’. These condemn any form of workplace discrimination and demand regulated payroll and working time management in compliance with national or international laws and standards.

“Should a contractor be found to be in breach of our supplier standards and terms and conditions, we would act swiftly to investigate and address the situation thoroughly. If necessary, Aldi has the right to suspend contracts that do not meet these obligations.”

She said Aldi’s 10,000 employees were mainly permanent full and part-time, working “between 15 and 38 hours per week”. “Our remuneration is well above market rates and our working conditions are considered to be some of the best in the industry, with independent employee satisfaction surveys also returning consistently high scores,” she said.

Aldi is now the nation’s third-biggest supermarket with an 8.9 per cent share of the $105.3 billion grocery market, according to IBISWorld. Woolworths holds 33.6 per cent, Coles 29.3 per cent, and IGA 7.1 per cent.

[e-mail]