Backlash over steak sandwich sackings

A Victorian mayor has refused to be drawn into an angry protest after two council workers were sacked for accepting free steak sandwiches.

Hundreds of supporters stormed Geelong City Hall last night, furious that the long-term employees were shown the door after what they claim was a good Samaritan act.

Patching truck operators Peter Anderson and Mick Van Beek were fired last Friday after being deemed guilty of fraud.

The pair, who worked out of the Drysdale depot about an hour west of Melbourne, agreed to fill two pot holes at the Leopold Sportsmans' Club while they stopped in for lunch last November.

The truck operators had planned to make their way to the tip after lunch to dispose of about six shovels of leftover pot-hole mix. But the manager of the sports club convinced them to use the remaining hot-mix to repair some pavement at the club, after expressing fears for the safety of elderly patrons.

The following week when the Mr Van Beek and Mr Anderson visited the club again, they were thanked with a free steak sandwich each.

But seven months later, a whistle-blower alerted the Geelong council which then deemed the trucking operators’ actions amounted to an act of theft — despite the fact the tar was destined to be thrown out.

"It seems like a waste to us," Mr Van Beek said on TODAY this morning.

"We were just trying to do the right thing ... and do the community a service."

His former colleague agreed he was stunned by the decision.

"I believe you're better off doing something ... for the community than throwing it to the tip," Mr Anderson said.

Both men, who have reportedly worked for the council for a combined 27 years, are appealing for their jobs back but the council is standing firm.

Geelong Mayor John Mitchell refused to answer several questions on the issue at last night's council meeting, which was packed with family, friends and fellow union members of the pair.

He was met with jeers from the crowd.

Union officials have pledged they will continue to fight the sackings.

"We're setting a tone that we'd like council to understand we're not going to go away," the Geelong Advertiser reported Australian Services Union organiser Barry Miller as saying.