Apprentices ripped off

Issue 

Emma Clancy, Sydney

Two 17-year-olds from Sutherland have been exploited by an unscrupulous boss in the building industry who owes them more than $10,000 each in unpaid wages, according to the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union's NSW construction division.

The CFMEU reported on March 30 that Stephen Pemberton and Brett were employed last December by J.A.L Landscape and Construction with the promise of carpentry apprenticeships. Now they are campaigning to receive thousands of dollars in wages they are owed by J.A.L for work completed on the Newinvest project at 22 Market Street, Sydney.

The J.A.L owners required the young men to sign individual contracts that contained no sick leave, overtime pay, public holidays or rostered days off and had them working for approximately $3.30 an hour.

Pemberton told the CFMEU: "I was just out of school, this was my first job and I thought it was a real chance to build a great future for myself by getting a trade. Instead ... I was basically treated like a slave.

"J.A.L still owes me thousands of dollars in wages that he refuses to pay. He won't even answer my phone calls, and we have no option left but to ask the community for help in our struggle for justice."

To help, you can email John or Adam Lintmeijer from J.A.L at <j.a.llc@bigpond.com> and demand the company pay these young workers their legal entitlements, or visit the CFMEU web site at <http://www.cfmeu-construction-nsw.com> to send a protest letter to J.A.L.

From Green Left Weekly, April 5, 2006.
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