Press Conference - Adelaide

MURRAY WATT, MINISTER FOR EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS: Well thanks very much for joining us here today at the SDA offices in Adelaide. Thanks to Josh and his team for welcoming us here. Very pleased to be joined by Louise Miller Frost the Member for Boothby and Claire Clutterham our candidate in the seat of Sturt at the next Federal Election, and most importantly thanks to Rosy and Leanne, two workers in the Mosaic group, who are at serious risk of losing their jobs and their entitlements that they've accrued over many years of service in stores like Rockmans and Millers that we've seen spread throughout Australia.

You would probably all be aware of the financial trouble that the Mosaic Group hit towards the end of last year and the Mosaic Group includes some of the best-known fashion brands in Australia, stores like Noni. B, Millers, Rivers, Rockmans, other stores like that who have supplied fashion and provided jobs for many thousands of Australians over the years. Now of course, unfortunately when we see a company like this go under some of the people who lose out most are the workers of those stores. And right now, there's an administration process going on with no real certainty for these workers about how long their jobs will last, and for those who have already lost their jobs when they'll recoup their entitlements that they're owed or how long they'll have to wait.

Now, all up what we know is that there's about $25 million in entitlements that are owed to workers in the Mosaic Group and that's things like unpaid wages, annual leave that's been accrued, redundancy pay, all sorts of entitlements that people would ordinarily receive if they were made redundant, but of course in a financial collapse like what we're seeing here, none of that can be guaranteed and the workers are going through a lot of uncertainty at the moment about how much of those entitlements they'll ever see, let alone how long they'll have to wait for it. 

Today I'm very pleased to announce that the Albanese Labor Government will be providing a fast-tracked service for these workers to be able to retrieve some of their entitlements that they are owed by this company. The Federal Government for some time now has operated what's known as the Fair Entitlements Guarantee or the FEG scheme, and that's essentially a safety net for workers who are owed entitlements in a company administration or liquidation. And under that scheme workers are able to recover up to 13 weeks that they're owed in unpaid wages, unpaid leave, unpaid redundancy entitlements as well, which in many cases will be the full amount they're owed and in other cases will be a substantial portion of what they're owed.

Now, the reason this matters is that as I say in a company liquidation like this, there's no certainty about how much of these entitlements will be recovered by workers or how long they'll have to wait. This liquidation process could go on a very long time through the courts and other things. And as a Labor Government, we don't want to stand by and see these workers have to wait any longer than they should to be able to recover entitlements that are lawfully theirs. You know, these are workers who have often given many years of their lives to this company, it has collapsed through no fault of their own, and they shouldn't be disadvantaged through the financial collapse of their employer. And our government, the Albanese Government, is here to step in and assist these workers by making sure that they can retrieve these entitlements as quickly as possible. So shortly, we'll hear from Rosy a worker in one of the Rockmans' stores here in Adelaide about what this means to her and her colleagues. But first, I might hand to Josh Peak from the SDA and I want to recognise that the SDA has lobbied very hard on behalf of its members for this to happen. So, well done to you and your team, Josh.

JOSH PEAK, SDA SA & NT STATE SECRETARY: Well, thank you Minister for being here today and for this really important announcement. The last six months or so has been an incredibly stressful time for Mosaic Group workers as they've faced incredible uncertainty about the future of their employment. And we know that many workers are incredibly anxious about the ongoing uncertainty since the closure has been announced around whether they're going to be able to have access to their entitlements. These entitlements are theirs; it's their money. They've worked for it; they've earnt it and the idea that they would have to wait months and months and months and go through a really complex liquidation process to receive that money is not right. And that's why we've been calling on and we are so pleased that the Federal Government, the Federal Labor Government, has stepped in today and said they agree, it's not right, and workers will get their money as soon as possible.  That's incredibly important and it sends a really important message to all of those workers that they are such an important part of our community and that their work is valued.

This has been a really dreadful time for so many workers and this doesn't fix everything, we know that many workers are facing unemployment and will be entering the job market soon, but what this does do is relieve a lot of anxiety of the financial insecurity that many of these workers may have faced if they had to wait months and months for their entitlements that are rightfully theirs. We are really pleased the government has stepped in here, it's the right thing to do, and to make sure that those workers have their burden eased even just so slightly. Thanks very much, Minister.

ROSY, EMPLOYEE: Hi, I have been with the company for nearly ten years. Thank you so much for helping us out, it means a lot. Been with the company for so many years, sad to see it go down the way it's going down. For us as staff and what we've had to be going through and knowing that we are going to be getting help is a lot for all of us to deal with. And to say thank you. Thank you for everyone in the Mosaic Group staff that -- we're, you know, we work as a team, we help each other out, we encourage each other, and we want the best and this really helps us a lot with all your help. Thank you so much.

MURRAY WATT: No worries, Rosy.

ROSY: Thank you.

JOURNALIST: Rosy, we might just keep you there if that's alright. Can you just tell us a little bit more about your job there? How long have you been at Rockmans?

ROSY: So, I'm a manager at Arndale Rockmans. I have been, I started off at Brickworks as a 3IC and I got sent to be a 2IC and then became a manager. So, retail, I deal with all customers, which is fun. I've had to deal with everything in retail. But it's sad to see such a massive company with so many brands going down. Customers are all worried where they're going to go because Mosaic is a big, big brand. It's got so many - nine brands and slowly, slowly we saw so many closing down so it's been sad. It's been really, really sad.

JOURNALIST: And you've obviously faced a lot of uncertainty over the last six months. Can you just reflect on the emotional difficulties?

ROSY: The last six months not knowing where we were standing, not knowing what was ahead. Where do we go from here? Do we still have a job? Not knowing when they're going to close. Every week was something different, you know, we were just told all different answers from the head office, you know, so it was hard. It's been so stressful for everyone, the whole staff.

JOURNALIST: And Rosy, what does early access to the FEG Scheme mean for you going forward?

ROSY: That helps us a lot, especially this day and age with all our bills and our living and you know there's a lot out there that we - I'm a family with three children and I've got to survive, you know, and it's going to help us a lot.

JOURNALIST: The store you're at, has it closed down yet?

ROSY: No, they're closing on 5 March which is next week.  Then Brickworks, the last SA Rockmans is closing 19 March so there's no more Rockmans around. WA closed their last store on the weekend.  And then SA will be closing Rockmans the last one, Brickworks. So, I was there from when it started, nearly ten years ago, it was nothing, built it together. Now knowing that there's going to be nothing. 

JOURNALIST: Have you been able to find a job to replace once the shop does close?

ROSY: No, not just yet. So, we'll see what the future holds.

JOURNALIST: What about some of your colleagues, is that sort of uncertainty, is that shared?

ROSY: Some of the girls have actually gone and got a job, I've helped them with their reference and some of the other girls want time off because it's been so stressful. Mentally, it's been stressful, so some of the girls want time off, some of them are going to Europe, going on holidays, so we all support each other.  We all text each other, even Port Augusta, Port Pirie, Port Lincoln, we've all become a family we all help each other out. It's sad, very sad. 

JOURNALIST:  Thank you, Rosy. I suppose this whole saga what do you think it says about bricks and mortar stores moving forward?

MURRAY WATT: Well, first of all, thanks Rosy for sharing that story. As you can see this has been a really difficult and emotional experience for all of the workers involved and as Josh mentioned, I'm not going to pretend that this will solve everything for people but hopefully this will give people a little bit more certainty that when their bills roll in that they will have at least some money to cover those while they start looking for new work.

Look, I think I wouldn't necessarily say that the collapse of one individual company means the end for bricks and mortar retail stores. I go shopping almost every weekend in bricks and mortar stores, as does my family and probably most of you do as well. But clearly, the shopping and retail environment is changing, and a lot of people are doing that more online. I guess what we're here to say is that workers shouldn't be disadvantaged from those kind of changes in retail conditions and they certainly shouldn't be disadvantaged when big companies collapse. That's what a Labor Government is here to do, is to look after workers and I think it's a really sharp contrast from what we're seeing from Peter Dutton and the Coalition who have voted against every change we've made to workplace laws, to look after people like Rosy and Leanne and he's also promising to unwind a lot of those changes if he wins the next election. So, as a government we'll do everything we can to ensure that these workers are supported. 

JOURNALIST: Minister, does that then set a precedent for possible situations like this that may happen in the future? 

MURRAY WATT:  Well as I say, this scheme, the FEG Scheme has been around for a while now. It's not every case that we do intervene in this way to bring forward these entitlements. But I do think that these are exceptional circumstances. It's a large number of workers, nearly 3,000, most of whom are women, many of whom with a family and caring responsibilities. Many of them are part time, and let's face it, we're not talking about millionaires here. We are not talking about people who have got large bank balances to fall back on. So, I think when you put all of those sort of circumstances together, I think it does justify an exceptional approach and as I say hopefully this will help people that little bit more.

JOURNALIST: How many stores are still operating and when can we expect them to all sort of conclude and shut up shop? 

MURRAY WATT:  My understanding, you might want to double check this, but my understanding is that there's around 300 or so stores remaining around the country. As I understand it, there's about three or 400 workers here in South Australia who will benefit from this early access. Nearly 3,000 around the country. But I think most people have now been told who are working there when their store is likely to close.

I should make the point that this scheme and these entitlements will be available for anyone who resigned or left the company or was still working for the company after the administration started. Obviously, some people have had an opportunity to find other work. It doesn't mean that they are disqualified from getting this - these payments - because they obviously would have been entitled to them if the company hadn't gone broke.

JOURNALIST: Minister, you said early that workers shouldn't be disadvantaged by the financial collapse of their employer. In a similar vein, will the government support workers in Whyalla and around the state that have been affected by the steelworks to make sure that they get 100 per cent of what they're owed? 

MURRAY WATT:  Well in fact what we want to do is try to help these workers keep their jobs. That's one of the reasons why the Albanese Government and Malinauskas Government have decided to step up and invest in the Whyalla Steelworks because we don't want to see those workers lose their jobs and we don't want to see all of the supply chains who supply in to Whyalla lose their contracts as well.

I think this is a really big vote of confidence from the Federal and State Governments in the future of the steel industry and the future of those workers so we will be doing everything we can to avoid workers losing their jobs at all.

JOURNALIST:  If workers do lose their jobs something like early access to the FEG Scheme might be available to them as well? 

MURRAY WATT:  Well we'll obviously always consider these cases on their merits. The FEG Scheme only really kicks in with companies who go through liquidation and we're a long way from that happening in the Whyalla instance. But we'll always assess these on their merits.

JOURNALIST: Josh, sort of looking from an SA perspective, do you have any gauge on how many workers that have been impacted by this collapse have now found work?

JOSH PEAK: Well, look we're pleased that as there's closure occurring and we are at a reasonably low unemployment rate here in South Australia which is a good thing. So we have seen a number of workers. I would estimate that of those that we have been dealing with so far around about half have been able to find employment elsewhere. But one of the things that's always difficult to assess is, is that new job as good as their existing job. Is the job that people are moving to on the same worker friendly hours, have they got access to permanent employment with leave entitlements. And so, one of the things that Mosaic did particularly in the retail space was did provide permanent employment with leave entitlements, good jobs for lots and lots of workers here in South Australia and those are years and years of service that those workers have done for that business and it's really pleasing that three to 400 of those workers will now have access to their entitlements under the scheme.

JOURNALIST: We've heard from Rosy, but have you spoken to other workers that have been impacted? I suppose, can you reflect on the emotions and how difficult the last six months have been for workers across the board?

JOSH PEAK: Well, look this has just been a really stressful time and it started with the administration being announced. And really difficult, not just dealing with your own anxiety about their employment, but also their anxiety about their entitlements, but also having to deal with customer violence and abuse that has gone along with these sorts of closures, where gift cards aren't been honoured and workers are the ones that are bearing the brunt of that. At exactly the same time when they're worried about whether they're going to be getting paid. And so, you can imagine all of those things and those emotions have built up. This doesn't solve all of that, there are a lot of people that are still in many ways mourning the loss of such an iconic business. But this does go a long way to resolving that anxiety particularly around the financial insecurity that can come with lost entitlements and lost redundancy.