Pokie-Free Pub Balances Books By Underpaying Staff

ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact

A popular pokie-free gastro pub in our town’s French Quarter has come under fire today after the operators were caught chronically underpaying their staff.

This afternoon, however, the owner of the Waratah Castle Inn on Rue de Putain Cheval has hit back at the United Voice Workers Union and those in the community calling for a boycott by explaining that it’s the only way they can balance their books without pokies.

Walter Hoits (pictured) has owned the Waratah Castle for close to a decade and he says unless patrons want to pay more for drink and food, he sees no way to stay solvent without underpaying staff.

“You’re damned if you do, you’re damned if you don’t,” shrugged Walt.

“If I put pokies in, I’m a predatory cunt who’s a drain on the community. I charge more for beer, wine and food? I’m a cash-grabbing fuck wit. I underpay my staff? I’m a money-grubbing pig who should be guillotined in the town square,”

“What do you want me to do? Have any of these people ever run a business? We can’t all be Dick Smith and sell out to Woolworths!”

The Advocate spoke to a number of disgruntled former employees from the Waratah Castle who up until a few months ago, were employed under enterprise agreements that made it legal for Mr Hoits’ hospitality business to pay them below the award rate.

All but one were willing to go on the record, explaining that he was still under 25 so if in retaliation for his comments he made in this article, he was still covered by his parent’s private health insurance should Mr Hoits have his legs broken.

“It’s not like it was a bad job, I got a tonne of hours,” he said.

“But I knew I was entitled to more money, like what the government mandates. I brought that up with my manager and he just told me there’s plenty of other pubs in town I could work at if I didn’t like it at the Waratah Castle,”

“But that wasn’t the point. We were being ripped off while Walter galavanted around on Lake Betoota shooting dolphins from the bow of his game boat. Yeah that’s right. Those delicious dolphinfish tacos that everybody in town raves about, they’re made from bottlenose dolphin meat. Dolphins that Walter shot with his lever-action .30-30.”

Mr Hoit is currently appealing the court’s decision to force him to pay the full award rate and the matter is due to be heard again in Betoota District Court in June.

More to come.