Comments on: Unite and Rugby World Cup

By: Richard Hurst

Richard Hurst — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 23:01:21 +0000

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.

By: jaba

jaba — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 04:12:11 +0000

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

By: RKBee

RKBee — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 03:48:00 +0000

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.
Just socialist trough feeders peddling socialist crap to gain money from those who can least afford it.

By: peterwn

peterwn — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 02:31:35 +0000

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.

By: dime

dime — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 01:28:40 +0000

this seems to sit well with his other policy of “gimme gimme gimme”

By: Manolo

Manolo — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 00:06:26 +0000

‘.. 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.

By: Southern Raider

Southern Raider — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 23:27:01 +0000

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.

By: ben

ben — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 23:14:29 +0000

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.

By: thedavincimode

thedavincimode — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 22:39:19 +0000

“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.

By: ross

ross — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 22:38:22 +0000

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.”

By: Grizz

Grizz — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 22:37:36 +0000

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?

By: ben

ben — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 22:33:21 +0000

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.

By: ross

ross — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 22:32:42 +0000

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]

By: andretti

andretti — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 22:25:57 +0000

Great a union that understands business,willing to take the ups and downs of business.
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.

By: Manolo

Manolo — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 21:53:31 +0000

Pitiful remarks from a dinosaur, who happens to be a stuttering, inarticulate left-winger. McCarten misses the point in its entirety.