A fast-food worker has been caught on camera jumping in an overflowing rubbish bin in an attempt to compress the waste.
The footage, posted on TikTok, showed an employee at a Hungry Jack’s restaurant in Melbourne’s CBD standing knee-deep in a bin while speaking with a colleague.
The bin wobbled under his weight as he tried to squash the rubbish down.
He then hoisted himself from one bin into another while trying to maintain his balance to further push down the waste.
Josh Cullinan, secretary of the Retail and Fast Food Workers Union told Daily Mail Australia the conduct was ‘unsafe and contrary to anything workers should be doing’.
‘Unfortunately, this is a consequence of the value employers in the fast food and retail industries place on workers.
‘Rather than contract additional waste removal capacity, employers will insist workers literally use their bodies to compress waste and save a buck.
‘Hungry Jack’s will no doubt blame the workers. They will claim some policy is being breached. But Hungry Jack’s encourages this by devaluing their workers and putting profit first.’
The Hungry Jack’s employee was filmed stomping rubbish into overfilled bins
Hungry Jack’s told Daily Mail Australia that the worker had breached the company’s rubbish process.
‘We have strict processes to ensure the safety and wellbeing of staff and customers,’ a spokesperson said.
‘This issue is now being investigated internally and the approved processes reinforced.’
The manager of the Elizabeth Street location said he had not seen the video, but added that the conduct surprised him.
Many Aussies unleashed about the worker’s act.
‘That’s disgusting and I work in fast food.’
‘I never thought I’d see anyone actually do this,’ another added.
A third said: ‘This is so wrong – it’s a health and safety violation.’
This is not the first time a Melbourne Hungry Jack’s store has been called out for dodgy conduct.
The rubbish lay piled in a alley beside the Elizabeth Street store (pictured)
Last year, an outlet to the north-east of the CBD, in Preston, was fined $3,846 after the state’s environmental regulator found its employees had improperly managed its waste liquids, allowing cooking oil to flow into stormwater drains.
The store was also issued an improvement notice relating to the same leak.
‘Staff at Hungry Jack’s Preston restaurant observed a spill from a leaking waste oil collection tank and immediately conducted a clean-up followed by further remedial action,’ a Hungry Jack’s spokesperson told Nine News.
‘Hungry Jack’s acted responsibly, undertaking additional precautions, which included moving the waste oil collection tank inside the restaurant away from the stormwater drain.’
In the same announcement, EPA Victoria issued fines to individual Melbourne outlets of McDonalds and KFC for similar offences.
‘Everyone has a duty to protect the environment. Oil and cooking wastes do not belong in our drain networks,’ said EPA West Metropolitan Regional Manager Steve Lansdell.
‘Major fast food franchises should have controls in place and their staff should be trained to understand how to manage their waste.’
