The Fair Work Ombudsman has confirmed it's investigating allegations of exploitation at the Melbourne Cricket Ground after a complaint from the cleaning union.
Filipinos like Antonio are at the centre of the investigation. He says he was lured to Australia with the promise of permanent residency.
"The promise was staying here for two years will make us a permanent resident and days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months, months turned to years," he told SBS.
What did eventuate for Antonio was a cleaning job at the MCG for below award wages. He left after just two shifts.
Frederico had a similar experience.
In the one shift he did in August last year he was told to go home early meaning he worked only two hours when the minimum shift required under workplace law is four hours.
"Many people are working tonight that's why we're going to finish this early, so we had a two hour job picking up rubbish at night at the MCG and I don't like the idea that's why I don't want to do it anymore," he said.
The United Voice Union is an Australia wide union looking after cleaners. Secretary, Jess Walsh, says the contract is a sham arrangement.
"They're employing these cleaners on ABN and we say it's a sham contracting arrangement," she said.
"We say that these cleaners should be paid the legal award rates of pay but, in fact, First Group is paying them up to 16 dollars an hour less than the legal minimum."
ISS, the company company contracted to provide cleaning services at the MCG, says it takes the allegations very seriously.
In a statement it expressed concern about the allegations being made against its sub-contractor, the First Group and says it's contacted the First Group and is working with it to ensure it's adhering to the conditions of its contract.
The Melbourne Cricket Club says if there's evidence contractors are not meeting employment obligations it will take action.
Reyvi Marinas from Migrante Melbourne first heard of these allegations in 2011.
And he says he's still being approached by worried students.
"In the past few years we had been approached by individual students, some of whom are in groups, you know asking about their courses, whether or not that course will qualify them to become a permanent resident so then we finally concluded that the problem is more deeper than that, the issue of underpayment, no benefits at all working as a cleaner here at the MCG."
Jess Walsh from United Voice says her union has been investigating the alleged rorts for several years.
She says her union came to the conclusion the allegations are so serious they needed to be referred to the Fair Work Ombudsman.
"There are legal minimum rates of pay that are required. Cleaners are staying late after games here at the MCG, working in the dark, in the cold, outdoors on Sunday night when the rest of us are tucked safely home in bed and they deserve to be paid the proper legal minimum rates, not 16 dollars an hour less than the those proper rates of pay."
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