Lodge-lease injunction sought

Press, 11 April 1978, Page 1

Lodge-lease injunction sought

An injunction to stop the sale of the lease of The Lodge, Hanmer Springs, will be sought in the Supreme Court today bv Lodge Inns, Ltd. the former leaseholder, which went into receivership last Tuesday. The lease was sold to Lorramac Holdings. Ltd, of Auckland, on Tuesday by the receiver. Mr K. N. Curnow. A side effect of an injunction could be difficulty in releasing money for the wages of staff at The Lodge. The regional organiser for the Canterbury Hotel and Restaurant Employees’ Union (Mr R. Lingard) will visit Hanmer Springs today to talk with staff and the new management. Mr Lingard said that the staff had been paid last Wednesday by the receiver but they had not received as much as they should have. Now that an injunction was being sought, money for wages could be frozen along with all other assets.

The union would also be investigating the possible redundancy of staff members, some of whom felt that they were being squeezed out of their jobs by the new management. A spokesman for the staff, Mr G. Spiteri. who is the restaurant manager at The Lodge, said yesterday that 16 staff members had signed a letter expressing their concern at the situation. They believed that the new management wanted to get rid of the existing staff because it did not fit in with the proposed new family-style image of the hotel. The previous lessee. Lodge Inns, headed bv Mr J. E. Hanna, had promoted an image of a luxurious businessmen’s retreat for The Lodge and had em» ployed highly paid, experienced staff to reflect this. Some of the staff had bn'' considerable international experience. Meals at The Lodge were expensive and had been claimed to have been as

good as the best International cuisine. The new lessees had said that thev intended to serve cheaper, family-style meals. "The new management has not told us to leave or anything like that," said Mr Spiteri. "But it is letting us know indirectly that it would like us to.”

Mr Lingard said that the union would not expect any redundancies to arise from lack of work at the lodge because there was still a need for staff. The problem was more likely to arise out of the compatability of the staff with the new management's needs. Some of the present staff were being paid wages well above award level, with generous allowances, and it might not be in accordance with the terms of the award for them to take a drop in pay.