Parking outrage: Fury at cost increase for staffers now paying $1000 per year at Westfield
Skyrocketing parking costs for employees working at a popular Westfield shopping centre in Queensland have left staff steaming.
Some furious staff are now expected to pay more than $1000 a year for the privilege of showing up to work with yet another increase in the daily parking rate.
Various employees at Westfield Garden City have now been slogged with a parking increase from $3 per day to a hefty $4 per day.
The move by the retail giant has sparked an online petition by furious employees.
In a statement released to Yahoo7 Westfield confirmed the cost increase, however the statement does not address the concerns of those working at the retail giant's centres.
“The cost of staff parking at both Westfield Garden City and Carindale increased on 1 June from $3 to $4 per day.
“There are no current plans to make changes to customer parking at the centre.”
One fed-up staffer Emily Hazard labelled the price hike a “straight up rip-off”.
“It’s not maintained, it’s disgusting, there’s rubbish up there all the time, trolleys up there,” she said.
“We shouldn’t have to pay for it to begin with — we’re there every day.
“We’re only retail workers — we’re not making a lot of money,” she continued in the passionate post.
“Why should we have to pay for this at all? Let alone an increase to $4 adding up to $1000 a year!”
Another angry shopping centre worker, Eirini Michailidis, said the price rise meant parking for fulltime workers would increase from $780 to $1040 a year.
“We earn minimum wage — I cannot afford $1000-plus just to pay to park at work,” she told News Corp.
She currently is forced to move her vehicle every three hours to take advantage of free parking to combat the astronomical parking prices.
She is also often dropped off to work too in a bid to avoid the fees.
Westfield Garden City introduced paid parking in 2013 amidst heavy criticism.
Customers now pay up to $20 a day, with the first three hours free.
News break – July 20
