Unite and Rugby World Cup
June 6th, 2010 at 9:51 am by David FarrarThe HoS reports:
McCarten said hospitality industry workers should be paid a minimum of $15 an hour and hotel workers get a cut of room-rate hikes.
An employer who sets a permanent wage rate on the basis of a one off event, won’t be in business for long.
Rates will be higher during the World Cup. And unions are quite free to ask for a profit share. In fact I like profit shares. But they normally go both ways.
If there is a month with little demand for rooms, and hence room rates are discounted 50%, would Unite be willing to accept lower wage rates for that month?
Risk and reward are linked. If you want extra reward, you need to accept some risk also.
The workers earned low wages and would be expected to work long hours and extra days during the tournament.
Now there is one key thing missing from that sentence. The statement that workers will get paid extra money for every extra hour and extra day. Hotels are not going to (or able to) make people work longer hours for the same pay. So workers will be getting paid more during the RWC – by working more.
“They’re talking about room rates of up to 10 times what they’re charging now, so there will be a lot of money around.”
There’s talk, and there’s actual bookings,
And Tourism Auckland chief executive Graeme Osborne said no one would be making “silly money” from the tournament.
The industry had emerged from a “tough” few years, and the average room rate was about $140 a night, lower than it was five years ago.
As I said,if you want more money during the peaks, will you also take less money during the troughs?
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June 6th, 2010 at 9:53 am
Pitiful remarks from a dinosaur, who happens to be a stuttering, inarticulate left-winger. McCarten misses the point in its entirety.
Vote:June 6th, 2010 at 10:25 am
Great a union that understands business,willing to take the ups and downs of business.
Vote:I would be willing to pay extra for the good times and pay less for the bad.Say $25 per hour for high peak bookings and $9 for low peak.Hotel rates in NZ are at a historic low and the RWC will only give a short boost for 2 months if we are lucky.
Good luck to any Hotel that can get high rates for this period it will help compensate for all the last 5 years of piss poor returns.
June 6th, 2010 at 10:32 am
Meanwhile, an Auckland B&B which quoted $1600 a night during the World Cup is being put up for sale. No silly money there, David.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10649428
> workers will be getting paid more during the RWC – by working more.
The minimum wage is the minimum wage no matter how many hours you work.
[DPF: Yep and when I was earning $1.99 an hour I was always grateful for opportunities to work longer hours]
Vote:June 6th, 2010 at 10:33 am
McCarten has zero credibility on these issues: his salary is paid conditional on mounting arguments like this. So, that’s the argument you get.
There must be a reasonable chance we see Unite picketing outside at least one rugby world cup match next year.
Vote:June 6th, 2010 at 10:37 am
Time and a half for overtime. Thats how I got extra pay and shared in the profits of the good times. It fucks me off that people today want something for nothing. Hotels in reality are likely to employ more temporary staff, of employ workers for longer but be required to duely compensate them for this. Maybe deals could be struck where additional annual leave during down times be negotiated.
What I do not understand is that if unions think than events like the Rugby World Cup are going to be so profitable for the Hospitality industry, why don ‘t they open their own restaurants and Hotels?
Vote:June 6th, 2010 at 10:38 am
Oh, and David you forgot some context from the Herald article:
“Hotel worker Marion Maera, 52, earned $12.80 an hour as a housekeeper at the Hotel Grand Chancellor, and said she supported Unite’s move.
‘Some [workers] have been there a really long time and they’re only on $13 an hour,” she said. “It’s not a lot when you’re trying to pay the bills and get groceries.’
She said the job was hard, physical work and workers were expecting to work longer hours during the Cup.”
Vote:June 6th, 2010 at 10:39 am
“As I said,if you want more money during the peaks, will you also take less money during the troughs?”
An interesting question; particularly in the context of dividend policies. Maybe Watson or Hotchin have the answer.
Vote:June 6th, 2010 at 11:14 am
Ross – how is that relevant? Ok its hard physical work. There are thousands of other jobs out there for Marion. Thousands. You could say every single one of them has its own difficulties. That is what makes it work. If it was easy, nobody would pay someone $20,000 a year to do it.
Vote:June 6th, 2010 at 11:27 am
And at the same time at least 6 bars at the Viaduct are in receivership. Wonder if Unite offered to reduce wagers to help the out?
Best thing NZ can do to save embarrassment in front of the rest of the world is to lock McCarten and co up over the Cup period.
Vote:June 6th, 2010 at 12:06 pm
‘.. they’re only on $13 an hour,” she said. “It’s not a lot when you’re trying to pay the bills and get groceries.’
Is anybody forcing this unskilled woman to work in the hotel industry? Why doesn’t she leave to find employment somewhere else to earn a higher hourly rate?
If you have no skills, tough. Educate yourself otherwise shut up.
Vote:June 6th, 2010 at 1:28 pm
this seems to sit well with his other policy of “gimme gimme gimme”
Vote:June 6th, 2010 at 2:31 pm
When the (then) new trains were introduced in Wellington the union wanted mor pay for the drivers as they were allegedly more complex to drive. It went to arbitration or what ever and after hearing expert evidence the arbitrator accepted that they were less complex to drive than the old EE trains.
Vote:June 6th, 2010 at 3:48 pm
Rugby World Cup no one will notice Unite or the issue… unless the media are hell bent on focusing on it… which is I presume what McCarten wan’ts… publicity for him and his new Unite Union needing new members to feed from.
Vote:Just socialist trough feeders peddling socialist crap to gain money from those who can least afford it.
June 6th, 2010 at 4:12 pm
thank god Israel isn’t in the world cup .. shit for brains Minto would be out there, with Keith Locke, with loud haler making a total ass of himself
Vote:June 7th, 2010 at 11:01 am
Hotel workers will benefit from the world cup:
1. With an increase in guests this means an increase in extra paid shifts available for staff who want them.
2. With (hopefully) an increase in profits for the hotel comes greater job security for staff as management doesn’t start looking for savings through cut backs in staff.
Lastly the world cup is a one off. It is unreasonable to expect a permanent jump in wages because of a one off event.
Vote: