Company does runner with wages

A luxury boat shapes as the best hope for 45 Perth workers 
whose boss did a runner after convincing them to work for eight 
weeks without wages. The Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union 
(AMWU) has warned Wavemaster creditors that no work will be done 
on the $2 million catamaran until union members get their 
money.

The ultimatum came at a creditors meeting at which banks and the 
union rolled the company's bid to appoint its own auditor, 
William Buck, as administrator.

Employees were terminated after accepting repeated assurances 
that owed wages and entitlements would be paid "next Monday".

It has since been discovered that Wavemaster's owner, Malaysia-
based Penang Shipping Company, has engaged in a corporate 
reshuffle that saw its Western Australian operation transferred 
through Body Focus to an entity called JR Marine.

Union representatives are trying to trace directors of the 
company.

AMWU organiser, Steve McCartney, said even the factory manager 
had been taken in by company assurances that the missing money 
would eventually appear.

"It's hard to believe that people would keep turning up to work 
when they weren't being paid", Mr McCartney said. "But he told me 
late payments had been happening for at least six months. It 
hadn't been unusual for the staff to wait four weeks for their 
money.

"This time, every Friday, there were assurances that the money 
would be paid on Monday. My personal belief is they stripped the 
company of its intellectual property then collapsed it, but we 
are trying to follow the paper trail to see who has been taking 
the money out."

The company told creditors that ongoing operations in Victoria 
and NSW were now completely separate from the Perth concern.

AMWU lawyer, Luke Edmonds, was voted onto the creditors' 
committee at last week's meeting.

Wavemaster occupied Henderson premises about five doors along 
from Eagle Air, another company bought out and collapsed by 
Malaysian interests, leaving employees stranded.

The AMWU was successful in retrieving money owed to 13 members 
employed by Eagle Air.