A Dandenong Market florist of 35 years says her retirement plans are in upheaval due to being forced out of her site by the market’s managers.
The florist widely known as Jenny has been told her site Jenny’s Flowers will be replaced by a food stall, as a part of the market’s new strategic direction.
A new location may be found for her, as her licence closes toward expiry on 30 April next year, she has been told.
According to her daughter Arzu Refikoglu, everything had been smooth sailing for more than three decades.
After migration from Turkey to Australia, Jenny worked hard alongside a florist and soon launched her first and only business at Dandenong Market.
She raised both her son and Arzu at the market, juggling the roles of mother and businesswoman.
Arzu recalls herself as young as 3, holding plastic bags while helping her mother sell flowers.
“She has a lot of friends despite her lack of English. She’s always been able to relate to people and they’ve always been really friendly,” Arzu says.
“Customers have known me since I was a baby so they’ve always been involved.
“She’s always had good relations and never had any issues really.”
But recently, Arzu accuses the market’s management of “bullying tactics” and harassment in a bid to force Jenny out from the market.
Her hopes of selling her business prior to retirement are hence up in the air.
A “file” has been built against Jenny including alleged complaints about handing out Tulip Festival flyers and Jenny’s tone with the management, Arzu says.
“In different situations we’ve seen them kick people out of the market, but they’ve done obviously a lot worse like physical assault.
“In our situation, it’s deemed the whole business may be kicked out based on our response to these customer complaints.
“They’ve claimed there’s additional complaints but when you read them, they sound like it’s associated with the same complaint. That’s when I pushed back asking for the original complaints.”
The original complaints were withheld by the market management. They only provided summaries of the complaints, date and time, citing privacy reasons.
It’s led Arzu to questioning their authenticity.
She says the management team snatched flyers of a Turkish Weekend event at the Tesselaar Tulip Festival out of Jenny’s hands. This is despite being allowed to hand out the flyers for the past decade.
“They claim that she can’t hand out these pamphlets as it’s against market policy to promote a different business.
“My mum came home distraught, frantic, crying questioning what’s going on, why are they targeting her?”
A Dandenong Market spokesperson says internal processes are in place “to deal with a range of different complaints and disputes.”
“Where a dispute remains and the trader wishes to pursue the matter further, the opportunity exists for them to lodge their disputes with the Small Business Commission Victoria for independent resolution.”
Greater Dandenong ex-mayor Maria Sampey criticised the council and its CEO Jacqui Weatherill for not wanting to get involved in the market’s “operational matters”.
“If someone is being mistreated someone has to step up and say, no you can’t do that,” Ms Sampey said.
“When I was on the (market) board there was an agreed procedure. If someone was accused, there was a mediation process.
“The way Jenny is being treated it’s a kangaroo court. They’re condemning and accusing her of all sorts of things and what rights has she got?”
The market operates as a proprietary private company and complete subsidiary of Greater Dandenong Council.
While it cannot interfere in the market’s governance or operation, acting CEO Sanjay Manivasagasivam said at a recent council meeting that it will communicate the concerns to the market’s board.
Cleeland Ward councillor and non-voting market board member Rhonda Garad says numerous traders share their issues with the market management with her.
But her powers to provide relief are zero, she says.
Cr Garad says she is advocating for a transparent communication body for the traders to raise issues.
“I think there’s fear sometimes that if a trader raises an issue, either it won’t turn much weight or there might be negative repercussions – which the management assured me there wouldn’t be.
“The consistent message has been they don’t feel heard. The perception is that not all traders are treated equally.
“Because there’s a lack of transparency, people get these ideas and a transparent process would eliminate this.”
“The community really value the market. We want traders to feel that they have certainty and are being treated fairly and consistently.”
