Soda Kids Clothing, Melbourne.

This is a departure from my normal blog posts, but I feel it necessary to post this.

I was given a job by a childrens fashion company in Melbourne called 'Soda Kids'. I was fired with 2.5 hours notice, without being given a reason, or even being formally fired. I was told to finish that days work, then they would call me when they needed me back in. The call never came, and this was directly contra to our agreement.

Basically, they used me. I created a detailed warehouse plan for them, which they still have, and once I had finished what they wanted, they tossed me aside.

I was put in an extremely dangerous financial situation as a result of this, and decided to not take it lying down, which is why I am posting this.

I have included a message I sent to Daniela Bussolaro, one of the owners, about the situation.

I want people to know how some employers basically rape the work force, then discard them when they're no longer needed. Dishonest workplace practices, illegal working conditions, these are all things so many have to silently endure week in, week out.

Here is my message:
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Hi Daniela, As you undoubtedly know, I was let go on Tuesday afternoon. My performance was not questioned, nor my punctuality. I was fired with 2.5 hours notice. But the interesting fact was, I wasn't even told I was being fired. I was told I'd be called today (Wednesday), and told when I would return to work. There was never any intention of bringing me back in. And the worst thing is, your business has done this to a person before.

Obviously this was highly distressing to me, as the arrangement Josie (your business partner and co-owner) and I had agreed upon stated I would be casual 5 days a week (at $100 per day), then hired officially on the 2nd of March as your new warehouse manager (at $750 per week after tax).

I had bowed out of all other job offers, and took my details off Seek.com, so I could follow through with my obligation to you. I had stayed up half the night on Wednesday to put together a draft warehouse plan for your business. I had agreed to work for you for $140 less than the lowest bracket of the going rate for someone of my experience/qualifications, in order to meet you halfway.

I worked hard, in a physical job in an unventilated, hot room, that is a violation of Australian OHS requirements by as much as 6 degrees on some days (The Australian Standard AS 1837 – 1976 Code of Practice for Application of Ergonomics to Factory and Office Work). In that kind of heat you are required to give us a 15 minute break every hour, but I said nothing, put my head down, and worked hard for you!

Worst of all, I had to endure the insult of having to work under Michael- a storeman so ineffective, slow, belligerent, and incompetent, that it defies logic why you would allow yourselves to be weighed down like that. Of course I know why- he's cheap. Now, I have $200 to my name, my rent is due at the end of the week, and I have no way to pay it. This is because I was screwed, by your business, and therefore, by you.

Unfortunately, I have been in this position before (I'm far too trusting, people seem to enjoy taking advantage of my good nature). This time however, I have decided to take every legal avenue available to me to inconvenience you in return. I know you just needed someone to get this last order out on time (I could have done everything Michael and I did in a week, in 2 days maximum, had you allowed me to work by myself, and without Michaels constant interruption and disruption). Now the order is done, no more use for me.

I would have been happy to work as a casual for you and leave, but Josie seems to enjoy stringing good, hard working, honest, and efficient people along; then dumping them in the financial crap when she is ready. Just so you know I left $25 with Laura on my way out, as I finished 2.5 hours earlier than I had been paid to stay. That's called honour.

So here's what will happen: I will submit you to be listed on the unethical businesses database, which as the name suggests, lists businesses within Australia who act in an unethical or dishonest manner to their staff, their customers, or the environment. Every time someone enters your name, Josie's name, Sissi G, or Soda Kids, one of the first entries they will see through their search engine enquiry is your listing on this site.

I have downloaded the links to all 155 of your current friends on facebook. I will contact all of them, and describe the facts of how you allowed me to be taken advantage of, and the situation of hardship it has left me in. Maybe they won't care, maybe they will. Time will tell. I will also circulate the list among my own contacts, many of whom are exactly the kind of people you want on your side.

I have the details of every retailer that currently stocks Sissi G and Soda Kids. I will contact them with the same message. Because we both know in business, people don't care for what goes on as long as the money keeps flowing, I will include the fact in my message that if they do not contact me with confirmation that they will no longer order from you, they too will be listed on the unethical business database. As much as businesses don't care, an increasing number of consumers do, and that sways the opinion of businesses strongly. It will be easier for them to no longer stock you, than deal with the potential fallout of being associated with a business that screws its own workers over.

I have contacted the labour department, and filled them in on conditions in the storeroom. Unless you manage to install air conditioning in there before the inspectors come, you could be fined, or in an extreme case (like this one), shut down entirely until compliance has been achieved, checked, and verified. Don't forget to allow time for bureaucratic paper shuffling.

There are of course more options open to me, and I will evaluate them on their merits in good time.I just wanted to communicate with you, and to let you know that you had a strong and efficient asset in me. Instead of just being human, and considering how your businesses actions would affect another person (who was helping you!), you wasted my time and talent, and fired me with no regard for my welfare.

There is every possibilty you had no knowledge of any of this, and if that is the case, then I am very sorry. I am very sorry, because now Josie will have to explain to you why your business is receiving such a great deal of negative publicity, through no fault of your own. No amount of money could ever change my mind, because my one goal is to legally inconvenience your business as much as your business has inconvenienced me. I am even prepared to spend my own money (when I get back on my feet) in this endeavour. In doing so, hopefully the next time you take on someone new, you will show them the respect of not lying to them, not offering them a job that isn't there, making them work in illegal conditions, firing them without having the decency or respect to actually fire them, and if you do, give them reasonable notice.

I knew Josie was a snake- I could feel it all along. But I never saw you that way, and considering Daphne's endorsement of you, I felt you could be trusted. I am so unhappy to have been proven wrong in that regard.

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This is knifey, from 'the internet.



http://www.sodakids.com.au/sodakids/