Unions NSW launches petition urging Masterchef to sack top chef over wage theft
Unions NSW has launched a petition urging Masterchef to sack celebrity chef George Calombaris after he admitted to underpaying employees at his restaurants $7.8 million.
A lengthy investigation by the Fair Work Commission revealed that 515 current and former employees had been underpaid due to incorrect application of overtime and penalty rates.
Mr Calombaris has been a vocal advocate for scrapping penalty rates in the hospitality industry.
While Mr Calombaris has been fined $200,000, Unions NSW and over 2000 signatories believe this reprimand is far from adequate.
RTBU NSW Secretary Alex Claassens signed the petition calling for Calombaris to be removed from Masterchef’s payroll, with a message for the hit show.
“Hey Masterchef, we know you don’t support chefs ripping off their workers, and that you would never endorse a chef underpaying their staff millions of dollars. So why is George Calombaris on your payroll?” Mr Claassens wrote.
“It’s time to drop the Masterthief form Masterchef.”