Melbourne court awards Chinese dumpling chef A$200,000 in unpaid wages.   


In a rare legal victory for Chinese workers abroad, a Melbourne court has ordered one of the city’s most popular dumpling restaurants to pay a chef around A$200,000 in unpaid overtime and other benefits.

Chang Chang, who moved to Australia in 2004, worked at the Camy Shanghai Dumpling and Noodle Restaurant 13 hours a day, six days a week for just A$100 a day.    

Despite being grossly underpaid and overworked, Chang only took legal action against his boss after he obtained permanent Australian residency. Like many other Chinese migrant workers abroad, Chang feared that if he sought redress before getting residency, he might lose his job and his employment visa would be revoked.

As CLB shows in its research report on Chinese workers in Singapore, and in our forthcoming report on Japan, the threat of repatriation is one of the most important factors preventing aggrieved workers from seeking redress for rights violations. Workers, unfamiliar with the legal system and the language in the country they are working in, and lacking the social and family support they can rely on back home, are more likely suffer in silence than take legal action against a boss who effectively has the power to send them back to China.   

Chang’s case also confirms what we have seen in many other countries where Chinese workers are employed, namely that the exploitative conditions that workers face at home are all too often replicated abroad.   

One of stranger aspects of this case, however, was the way the story was reported in the local Murdoch-owned newspaper, the Sunday Herald Sun. Under the headline, “Melburnians may pay for dumpling debacle,” the paper complained that the judgment, which the restaurant owners are appealing, could spell the end of cheap dumplings for the city’s foodies.

Thankfully, the comments subsequently added to article showed that many people in Melbourne do value decent pay for decent work above cheap food. As one commentator pointed out:

    What’s more important??? Getting cheap Asian food or making some poor sucker work like a dog for nothing....Don't write this article like it is ripping the public off. This guy deserves every cent, and I hope other dodgey restaurants who are underpaying their staff are listening too.   

Quote: - ""the way the story was reported in the local Murdoch-owned newspaper, the Sunday Herald Sun. Under the headline, “Melburnians may pay for dumpling debacle,” the paper complained that the judgment, which the restaurant owners are appealing, could spell the end of cheap dumplings for the city’s foodies.""


Well, to tell the truth, I wouldn't expect any better from that mob.

The man's an asshole.

liberal supporters?

Look what happened when Mr It_is_the_Light and his Crew tried to infiltrate my world and steal my money (because I'm a sexually inferior Wanksta).

HC wrote on Apr 26^th, 2011 at 3:21pm:


Fact according the International Institute for Racist Dogma and Propaganda (IIRDP)

And of course the decadent wasteful greed based Westerners headed by the USA are angels of mercy - LOL

The USA make up 5% of the worlds population and yet comsume LIKE PIGS 1/3 of the wrolds resources - and produce liek PIGS about 30% of the worlds waste

The USA also spends more on military and defence budgets (mostly corporate profiteers of public taxes) that the rest of the wrold combined

Currenlty the USA spending on miliatry is about 2/3 of the world TOTAL spending.

The USA also have over 1000 military bases in about 140 countries around the world.

Oh lets not forget we AUSTRALIANS - the number ONE country in the world as far as Carbon emitters per capita.

So mr HC, perhaps you can take off your racist hat for once and look into the mirror and see yoru own pathetic self that you gloss over with yoru daily lies and bullshit comments

Who are the PIGS again?

Yours SIncerely

Foolosophy

muso wrote on Apr 27^th, 2011 at 1:48pm:


Funniest thing I've heard all day!  
Actually Fool, my spouse is of chinese descent, and I lived in that region for several years as an expat so my opinion is based on observation rather than supposition.
'Daily lies and bullshit comments'?  Now who's spouting propaganda eh?

PS- Free Tibet Now!