HOTEL WORKERS Wage Rise Agreement Precedes New Award

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32349, 15 July 1970, Page 1

HOTEL WORKERS Wage Rise Agreement Precedes New Award

(By our Industrial Reporter)

In a complete reversal of the usual procedure, New Zealand’s hotel workers will begin negotiations for a new award after they have reached agreement with the employers on the percentage wage increase to be granted.

This agreement will almost certainly be for a 20 per cent increase, and on the strict understanding that the workers will receive additional compensation for week-end work.

All the one-day strikes planned for this week will be held as arranged, which means that no barmen, cooks, waitresses or housemaids will work in Auckland, Wellington or Dunedin on Friday, and none will work in Christchurch on Saturday. The Hotel Association of New Zealand made a wage offer to the workers yesterday, conditional on the nego-j tiation of a new award. This) offer, believed to be 15 per; cent will form the main basis for negotiations in Wellington tomorrow between em-i ployers’ and workers’ assessors.

The hotel workers have been standing out—and striking—for a 30 per cent increase, but their assessors know perfectly well that all the concessions cannot be on the one side. On the other hand, it would be a waste of time for them to go back to

their membership with a smaller offer than the 20 per cent negotiated last week for restaurant and private hotel workers.

Furthermore, because the workers have already progressed past the stage of stopwork meetings to the holding of regular weekly strikes, there must be grave doubts that they would accept even 20 per cent unless there were additional inducements. For this reason the workers’ assessors can be expected to ask—also in advance of beginning award negotia- ' tions—that the employers agree to further concessions. Two likely requests are for double time, instead of time and a half, for Sunday work, tand for three weeks annual holiday from the beginning instead of five years.

Restaurant workers already receive double time for Sunday work, and other workers with evening and weekend hours already receive three weeks holiday from the start.

Reporting Back

Whatever offer the workers’ assessors receive tomorrow will be taken back to the membership at stop-work meetings throughout the country. These will be held as soon as possible, which will be early next week. If the offer is considered reasonable, the assessors will be authorised to begin negotiations for a new award incorporating the offer. If not, an extension of the present strikes can be expected.