
Issue No 61		07 July 2000

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News

Hotel Bosses Face Olympic Showdown

Big city hotels are facing a campaign by workers to get their share of the Olympics windfall, with a mass meeting of workers to be held later this month.

Some hotel bosses are trying to convince staff not to attend, what is a legal stop-work and the hospitality award.

The hotel union - the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers Union - has organised a mass meeting of members for July 24 at the Masonic Centre to discuss the campaign for a fair deal over the Olympics period.

The theme of the mass meeting is: "You have a voice, make it heard".

The managers of Sydney's large hotels are obviously concerned about the union campaign and what could come out of the mass meeting because there is evidence that they have now started swapping strategies about the best way to combat the campaign.

The managers of two of the swankiest hotels in town - the Marriott and the Inter-Continental - have now sent letters to the hotel union which are the same - word-for-word. The layout of the letters is even similar.

The union is having a lot of fun with the letters running a guessing competition asking hotel workers to spot the difference - list how many different points they can find ( eg the letter heads are different).

Both letters tell the union - ever so politely- to naff-off.

The July 24 industry meeting is a legally sanctioned meeting available for union members in both the hotel and motel awards. It is illegal for an employers to tell hospitality workers not to attend the meeting, or to threaten not to pay them during the time they are at the meeting.

" It doesn't matter if you are a casual, you still have the right to come. It doesn't matter if you are on a salary, you still have the right to come. It doesn't even matter if you are not yet a member of the union, you still have the right to come," Jagath Bandara of the Hotel Unions Organising Team said.

" This right is your voice. You have a voice make it heard.

Let's Talk, Says Union

The union is currently running a postcard campaign to calling on all Sydney hotel workers get fair treatment during the Olympics' . Workplace delegates have been distributing " Let's Talk" postcards around all the big residential hotels. It has been a huge success among both unionists and non-unionists.

Hundreds of concerned workers have signed the postcards asking the union to help them get their managers to sit down and talk now to ensure that everything functions smoothly over the Olympics period.

" It is no co-incidence that the hotels where the most postcards have been received from, are also the first hotels to offer to talk about the Olympics concerns of their employees," Bandara says.

" When we deliver the postcards to management it sends a pretty strong message that their workforce means what the postcards say: ' Let's Talk'."

For further information about the Hotel Union campaign contact either Jagath Bandara or Troy Burton from the Hotel Organising Team on 9281 9577

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  Issue 61 contents

Technology: Union Rep for Global Net Body
The godfather of unions and the Internet, Eric Lee, is seeking your support to give labour a voice on the net's governing body, ICANN.

Interview: Downloaded and Done Over
In the wake of the TV Networks' digital TV victory, Internet industry chief Peter Coroneus rues a missed opportunity for Australia.

Legal: The Global Millennium Project
The International Centre for Trade Union Rights (ICTUR) has developed a draft proposal for a comprehensive revision and modernisation of international labour standards for the new millenium.

Unions: Sandgropers Get Serious on Stress
The Australian Services Union in Western Australia in conjunction with the University of Western Australia, is surveying workers across the state's call centre industry.

Politics: New Work for a New Millennium
View in full the ALP's Draft Industrial Relations Policy to be taken to the National Conference at the end of the month.

Solidarity: Korean Hotel Workers Seek Global Help
Striking Korean hotel workers at the Swiss Grand Hotel and the Seoul Hilton are worried they could be the next targets of escalating riot police violence.

History: Vince's Parable of the Sundial
How a working man survived WWII and ASIO blacklists to save a sundial.

International: Room for Optimism from African Poll
The performance of pro-Deomcracy groups in the Zimbabwean elections has given supporters hope for better days.

Environment: Mexican Wave Goes Green
American politics has taken on a Green hue with the left leaning National Action Party and the Greens in Mexico picking up nearly 40% of the vote in the recent elections.

Satire: Aussies Celebrate Centenary by Leaving Country
Prime Minister John Howard has defended his government's decision not to involve Australia in the centenary federation celebrations.

Review: A Building Sings of Lives Lived in Music
Mysterious shadows flicker in the windows of the Parramatta Town Hall. Strains of trumpet and sarod float outside. It's all part of the urban Theatre Project's latest work, 'The Palais'.

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