Female StarTrack worker sacked after questioning pay cut

The TWU has launched legal action against Australia Post subsidiary StarTrack after a female worker lost her job when she questioned a drop in her pay.

StarTrack delivery trucks.

The Transport Workers Union has launched legal action against Australia Post subsidiary StarTrack and labour hire company APS Transport after a female worker lost her job when she questioned a drop in her pay.

Kim White, who is undergoing breast cancer treatment, said APS justified the pay cut in an ­August email, saying that StarTrack “wanted us to revert back to award conditions for all sites, rather than their EBA (enterprise agreement)”.

Ms White, 54, was employed by APS and placed with StarTrack, working as a casual freight handler for the past year. Her partner is a direct employee of StarTrack and a TWU delegate.

She said she had worked three to five shifts a week, working 20 to 40 hours a week, earning $38.10 an hour. She said her pay was cut by 40c an hour to $37.70 and other employees told her their pay was also cut.

Ms White sent the APS email exchange to a StarTrack supervisor who said he would ­inves­tigate the matter. The TWU also raised the issue with the firm.

In the following week, she did not receive a work roster. Her husband texted a supervisor who told him that Ms White “will no longer be required”.

Ms White told The Australian that she believed she was being “punished” for asking why her pay had been cut.

“I am not sleeping, I am stressed out to the max because I cannot pay my bills,” she said.

“I am a breast cancer patient. I am undergoing breast cancer treatment, I cannot pay for that. Life as I knew it has completely changed.”

The union is pursuing an ­adverse action claim on her ­behalf against APS and StarTrack. Ms White said that given the way she had been treated, she did not feel comfortable seeking reinstatement and would pursue compensation.

“Who’s going to employ me now? I am 54 and I have got breast cancer,” she said.

“Who’s going to give me a job? I am a liability.”

In a follow-up email, APS said the manager’s initial explanation was incorrect and the reason for the pay change was that Ms White had been previously overpaid. The TWU said StarTrack also claimed this week that Ms White was sacked because she clocked off from her shift early but claimed for the full shift, an ­allegation denied by Ms White.

TWU national secretary ­Michael Kaine said the “sacking” followed a jump in the use of ­outside hire at StarTrack, a key dispute in current enterprise bargaining negotiations.

“Kim White has been targeted by the management team and made an example of to frighten workers into quiet obedience,” he said. “First, she had wages stolen through a unilateral drop in her penalty rates, then after querying it she was sacked without explanation or right of reply.”

StarTrack said under its enterprise agreements with the TWU, labour hire personnel are paid the same hourly rates that apply to StarTrack’s direct employees. “StarTrack denies it has taken ­adverse action against the applicant and will vigorously defend any proceedings,” it said.

Following a review of pay rates applied by APS, StarTrack said “it was discovered that shift loading had been calculated incorrectly, which led to some labour hire personnel being overpaid – this was later corrected”.