Over 100 Caltex franchisees have accused the petrol giant of charging each franchisee around $10,000 to conduct audits after claims some of the stores are underpaying workers.
The alleged underpayments are under investigation by the Fair Work Ombudsman and it's believed up to 50 Caltex stations are now under the microscope.
Franchisees in Sydney today said the majority of station owners pay their workers fairly, and that Caltex's actions have tarred all the businesses with the same brush.
Sanjeev Sharma, a spokesman at the march, said each franchise was getting audited and had to fork out cash for the process, which he says few can afford.
"It's totally unfair what Caltex is doing to us," he said. "Everybody is getting audited, that is what they are claiming and everybody has to pay $10,000. As per the clause in the agreement, they should come down to the sites and do what they want to do."
Caltex responded in a statement standing by their position: "There is no excuse for wage fraud or mistreatment of employees," it said. "We will continue to work with the Fair Work Ombudsman to stamp out wage fraud across our network.
"Caltex is committed to ensuring the majority of our valued franchisee partners who do the right thing are not unfairly affected by the inappropriate actions of others."
Mr Sharma said the root of the problem was a change in Caltex's business model some years ago, adding that this has led to a degradation in working conditions.
"We are running the businesses at a loss for the last eight to 10 years. We have been suffering pretty badly at the hand of Caltex," he said.
Caltex said it has reviewed the model and found it allows franchisees to draw a wage, make a profit and pay employees lawful wage rates.
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