By Cara Waters
Queen Victoria Market fruit and vegetable traders will close their stalls on Tuesday, going on strike for the first time in the market’s 147-year history.
The traders have accused the City of Melbourne and its market management company, QVM Pty Ltd, of financial mismanagement, and shifting costs onto traders and customers to cover budget shortfalls.
Frank Fontana, of Fontana Brothers, will be part of a strike of Queen Victoria Market fruit and vegetable stallholders on Tuesday. Credit: Chris Hopkins
They are concerned about construction at and around the market, which they say is deterring customers.
Escalating salaries are also an issue. QVM spent nearly $7.5 million on salaries last year, about a third of its income. In comparison, South Melbourne Market spends 20 per cent of its income on salaries.
Frank Fontana, who operates the Fontana Brothers stall, said a requirement from the start of January that traders pay for electricity and waste services – a charge previously included in stall fees – “broke the camel’s back”.
“It’s death by a thousand cuts,” he said. “I believe this is the first time that any area of the market has come together to strike. This was not a decision taken lightly.
“It’s not what we wanted to do; it’s what we feel we have to do, sadly.”
Fontana said fruit and vegetable traders had been pushed to the brink and would strike for one day.
He estimated the charge would cost his business $10,000 a year, equating to hundreds of thousands of dollars in extra costs across the market.
“We need to actually do something, not just complain and cop it on the chin,” he said. “We cannot take these hits any more.”
Lord Mayor Nick Reece (right) and his deputy, Roshena Campbell, outside the Queen Victoria Market during their election campaign when they pledged to freeze costs for traders for four years. Credit: Eddie Jim
Lord Mayor Nick Reece pledged to freeze costs for Queen Victoria market traders as part of his election campaign last year.
“Recognising the challenges traders face during the renewal period, a rebate will be provided so that no existing day market traders will see an increase in lease or licence costs over the next four years,” Reece said at the time.
Fontana said Reece had since tried to wash his hands of the traders’ plight “on a technicality” by claiming that the electricity and waste service charge was in the budget before he was elected.
“The buck stops with him,” Fontana said. “We think that he needs to step up and keep his promise that he made to Melbourne in being elected and show that he really does care about the market, not just say it when you’re running for election.”
Reece said the decision to increase trader licence fees was a matter for QVM management.
“Queen Victoria Market traders are the heart of this iconic Melbourne institution – and I am confident management understand this and will make fair decisions to ensure the market continues to thrive,” he said.
“We’re doing everything we can to minimise the impact on traders during the precinct renewal. Since 2017, we’ve provided around $3 million in grants and adapted our works to further reduce disruption to their businesses.”
City of Melbourne councillor Mark Scott, the co-owner of Ripe Cheese in the Queen Victoria Market dairy produce hall, said traders outside the fruit and vegetable sheds were not striking because it was against their lease to do so.
Shoppers at the Queen Victoria Market. Credit: Luis Ascui
“I support everybody’s right to make their point, and they are making their point in a way they feel is appropriate,” he said.
“It is a complex issue. From what I understand from management, I understand and see their point as well.”
Scott, who ran on Reece’s ticket, said a charge for electricity and waste services had already been planned.
“I think that is a timing issue and this issue has been in train for quite a while,” he said. “Obviously, Nick’s pledge [to freeze costs] has to go through council and has to be approved.”
Friends of Queen Victoria Market president Mary-Lou Howie said customers for fresh produce were at record low numbers.
“The shrinking number of fruit and vegetable traders – 65 down to around 30 – shows intuitively the decline in customers,” she said.
Howie said traders had been hit by decreased advertising, obstruction of construction, closure of Franklin Street, the COVID-19 pandemic aftermath, and continued uncertainty over the Lendlease and City of Melbourne southern site development.
Credit: Matt Golding
“With stall fees already rising 4 per cent annually, traders view these new charges as unjust double-dipping,” she said. “They are demanding fair treatment and transparency.”
QVM chief executive Matt Elliott said he was disappointed that “a small number” of traders were choosing not to open for business.
He said separate electricity and waste charges helped to ensure larger operators paid their fair share, rather than having small stallholders subsidise them.
“We … have done everything we can to contain the many cost increases we have faced within the revenue we collected from trader rents alone while also maintaining rental increases well below inflation,” he said in a statement.
“The reality is we simply cannot continue to operate in this way, and the future financial sustainability of the market relies on management making some tough decisions to enable us to continue to deliver the services all our traders need to run their businesses.
“It is also important that all traders pay a fair amount for the services they actually use.”
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