Workers Online : : 2000 - Issue 69 : Hilton Hotels Limp As Strike Bites


Issue No 69		01 September 2000

LaborNET	Ask Neale	Tool of the Week

Hilton Hotels Limp As Strike Bites

By Andrew Casey

Chefs, porters, kitchenhands, housekeepers and engineering staff from the Sydney Hilton and the Airport Hilton went on strike today as part of a continuing series of rolling stoppages throughout most Sydney Hotels.

Both the Sydney Hilton Hotel and the Airport Hilton Hotel were badly affected by the strike today with the Sydney Hilton's switchboard shutdown.

Most of the day's laundry and housekeeping were not done, at either of the Hilton Hotels, and many of the porters, chefs and kitchen hands did not turn up for work.

" All our members want is respect," Jagath Bandara, the LHMU Hotel Union organiser for the Hilton, explained today.

" They have sent postcards and petitioned the Hilton management asking for a meeting to discuss their concerns about the Olympics. The postcards and the petitions didn't work.

" So today they went on strike. That resulted in a meeting and management made their first offer.

" But the offer was paltry. Our members were unhappy with the offer and immediately rejected it."

On Thursday - at the Intercontinental Hotel - members of the LHMU Hotel Union lampooned their management when they raffled toy cars at the front of their workplace.

The Intercontinental management has refused to discuss with the LHMU the introduction of an Olympic Bonus for their employees. They have offered instead to supply all their workers with a $50 gift voucher and the chance to enter a raffle for a new car.

Intercontinental Hotel seamstress Amy Youngman described her employer's offer of a car raffle as downright insulting.

Other hotels where union members held rallies, protests and strikes this week included the Regent Hotel and the Gazebo Hotel.

The Regent Hotel was embarrassed by the scenes outside their hotel, with a huge international media throng reporting on the Hotel Union members struggle.

The media from the USA, Japan, France and Brazil joined their local colleagues to report the dispute because the Regent Hotel is where the boss of the IOC, Juan Antonio Samaranch, will stay during the Olympics.

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Issue 69 contents

Interview: Global Warrior
International unions have won a game of political football with soccer`s hierarchy - and Aussie Tim Noonan is behind the victory.

History: King of Broken Hill
John Shields recounts the colourful life of William Sydney 'Shorty' O'Neil (1903-2000) and his place in the rich history of a remarkable town.

International: History Repeats At Firestone
More than 8,000 workers, members of the United Steelworkers of America (USWA), are set to strike at nine Bridgestone/Firestone plants in the United States at midnight tonight.

Politics: The Past We Need To Understand
In his Vincent Lingiari Memorial Lecture Malcolm Fraser retraces the path of Australian race relations and laments the terrible impasse we've reached.

Unions: Economic Democracy
Sharan Burrow on making Working Australia's money talk and reforming corporate culture for the 21st Century.

Satire: Another windscreen washer joins millionaire list
SYDNEY, Monday: After just a year in his new job, John Samuels has added his name to the burgeoning list of enterprising Australians who have made their fortunes by offering partial car-washing facilities in convenient inner city road-side locations.

Review: No Long Term
Much political commentary is about the global marketplace and the use of new technologies as hallmarks of the new capitalism. Richard Sennett investigates another dimension of change: new ways of organising time, particularly working time.

» New Benchmark In Bank Greed

» Olympics Deal Sparks Soccer Ball Victory

» Two Day Strike Hits BHP Mines

» Leightons, SOCOG Tremble Before Haka

» Hilton Hotels Limp As Strike Bites

» Wran Lends Boffins A Hand

» ACTU Meets Joy

» Barracks Workers Put The Pinch On Local MP

» Olympic Win For Taxi Drivers

» Australian Unions Keep Spotlight on Fiji

» Staff Eye Telstra Prize

» Dice Loaded Against American Workers

» NZ Union Federations Heal Split

» Pressure Mounts On Nike To Live Olympic Ideal