Blitz leads to cuts in hotel workers’ hours

Press, 10 January 1984, Page 7

Blitz leads to cuts in hotel workers’ hours

The Ministry of Transport drink-driving blitz over Christmas has led to cuts in working hours for some hotel staff, according to the Canterbury Hotel Workers’ Union.

An organiser for the union, Mr M. Moodie, said yesterday that the blitz had certainly had a “pretty drastic” effect for some of the union’s members, especially casual workers. People were doing more drinking at home instead of hotels in order to avoid being caught by the blitz, he said. That had meant a drop in trade for some hotels and a cut in hours for staff.

No lay-offs had been reported. However, there had been a cut in overtime and the number of casual workers employed in some hotels, particularly the big city hotels, had reduced.

Mr Moodie said that staffing at hotels would probably return gradually to normal

after the blitz was over. It was too early to say if any permanent damage had been done to hotel trade.

“Our major concern really is that the hotel trade has been singled out for the blitz. It is a creator of an enormous amount of jobs, whereas we feel that the likes of sports clubs have not been given the same treatment. Yet they are in competition with hotels and do not create any jobs,” he said.

“The Press” approached several Christchurch hotels to check whether there had been cuts in working hours for staff. Several reported that trade was quieter than usual, but none had cut back on staff or reduced working hours.

The secretary of the Canterbury branch of the Hotel Association, Mr R. W. Broom, is on holiday and did not wish to comment yesterday.