Restructuring ‘the stuff prosperity is made of’

Press, 9 February 1989, Page 6

Restructuring ‘the stuff prosperity is made of’

Unemployment caused by restructuring is not a disaster but the stuff prosperity is made of, the former Minister of Finance, Mr Roger DougJas, said yesterday in his /’state-of-the-nation” address. Solutions to unemployment would not come from the Government ?‘pussyfooting around, conning people with work .'schemes and the like for the sake ' of temporary 'political popularity." Using the tourist industry as an example, Mr Douglas said work prac'tices were hindering tourism development > Hotel workers were working to an award

based on 6 p.m. pub closing, while the demand for seven-day, flexible hour arrangements was growing. In an oblique reference to support for pay equity for women by the Service Workers’ Federation, representing hotel workers, Mr Douglas said union practices based on male occupational habits were stopping women getting work. “We cheerfully allow restaurant workers to do 10 hours, four days a week, to allow flexibility. "But not hotel workers, who come under the same union. To employ a casual worker for four hours in our hotels would mean

paying for a full eighthour day. “Too bad for women who want part-time work.” Mr Douglas said the Hotel Workers’ Union reduced the earnings of every tourism business in the country. The union was entrenching privileges at the expense of the unemployed, he said. Through the card-voting system the union continued to remain influential in the Labour Party. “Those people are ripping off the community, the unemployed, and their own mates in other industries,” said Mr Douglas.