Aleks Devic
June 22nd, 2009

Source: Geelong Advertiser

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GEELONG university students are working as strippers in a daily battle of survival, while others finding themselves at the mercy of rogue employers. Desperation for a job to help pay for living expenses and university fees are forcing young workers into vulnerable situations, unions said.

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Geelong strip club AlleyCat Men’s Club general manager Geoffrey Vincent said the venue had about 10 strippers who were studying at university with subjects including nursing and journalism.
He said, since the economic down turn, there were more women applying to become strippers and denied it was a degrading job.
“They earn a lot of money in a short amount of time allowing them to dedicate themselves to their studies,” Mr Vincent said.
“They earn a lot more than an average wage.”
Deakin University Student Association president Cayla Edwards said it was not uncommon for students employed in various industries to work more than 30 hours a week.
And many had to work late at night to prevent interfering their studies.
“It’s really unfortunate that, out of desperation, students take cash-in-hand jobs and receive pay at the lower end and give up their rights like work cover,” Ms Edwards said.
“Many say ‘it won’t happen to me’ but, as we know, things do happen.
“I put it back on employers to be responsible when employing students.”

Workplace Ombudsman executive director Michael Campbell said there were more than 459,000 international students enrolled in Australia and many were unaware of their workplace rights and the laws that protect them.
“That makes them vulnerable to exploitation and unwittingly accepting poor employment conditions so they can pocket a few extra dollars to pay their rent or meet daily living expenses,” Mr Campbell said.
Fast food and retail union UNITE secretary Anthony Main said international students were faced with “institutionalised discrimination”.
“They go to work and don’t get paid properly and at home they get ripped off by their landlord,” Mr Main said.

UNITE put the spotlight on 7-Eleven stores across Victoria after being informed the convenience store was underpaying staff.
The Workplace Ombudsman is investigating the claims and 7-Eleven refused to discuss the allegations.
Mr Main described the situation of young workers being exploited as “totally extreme”.
“Bullying is a big problem for young workers,” he said.
“Thirty-five years ago it was women who were not being treated equally and now it’s our young workers.
“7-Eleven is not an isolated place. The same things happen in other businesses where young workers get ripped off and pushed around.
“They are less inclined to speak up because they want to keep their jobs.”

Workplace Ombudsman statistics reveal 41 per cent of employers across Australia were underpaying staff aged between 15 and 24-years. Victorian bosses were the worst offenders and were ordered to back pay $204,487 to young workers.