Broccolini is a patented vegetable and the exclusive rights are owned by fresh produce wholesaler and distributor Perfection Fresh, meaning only certain producers are allowed to grow it.

The three workers, Haromai Bin Ismail, Mohd Faizol Mohamad and Shuhaida Binti Ahmad, were employed as product pickers between June 2019 and December 2021. The court documents say they did not have written employment contracts and were paid by way of a group piece rate, in which the amount of broccolini picked each day by the group was measured and divided by the number of workers.

Under the horticulture award, piecework agreements must be between an employer and an individual employee, not a group, and must be in writing and signed by both parties. The workers say this was never done.

The workers told The Age they were pursuing legal action as they believed the way they had been paid was unfair, and there had been little transparency about how their wages were calculated. They have all since moved on to work for new employers.

“It’s not right,” said Ismail. “It’s unfair for us, but we didn’t have a choice.”

United Workers Union executive director for farms Jannette Armstrong said this was the second time in a year that broccolini workers at Vizzarri farms had to file a case in the Federal Court to enforce their right to be paid the correct minimum wage.

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She said the union had repeatedly raised issues with the Vizzarri businesses about the network of labour hire contractors, and their allegations about illegal payments, wage theft and denying broccolini workers their basic entitlements.

In 2021, farm manager Sarith Kit, who managed the packing sheds at the Koo Wee Rup farm, was sentenced to jail and fined after he was found guilty of allowing unlawful non-citizens to work and dealing with the proceeds of crime. Kit was employed by M&G Vizzarri for more than 20 years and provided workers for the farms. A court found the workers were paid less than the award rate that was applicable at the time.

M&G Vizzarri was also charged with allowing eight unlawful non-citizens to work. A judge last year fined the company $60,000 and found it should have known the status of the workers, and should have taken steps to ensure they were complying with the Migration Act.

“The company was fully aware of its obligations and was reckless in relation to carrying out checks that would have avoided the risk of employing illegal workers,” he said.

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