Crown Sydney workers have today (EDS: Friday) pressed the “do not disturb” button as they take strike action for the second week about pay and conditions at the casino and Sydney’s most expensive hotel.
From 11am Crown has been notified that general service attendants – who provide room make-up services and in-room deliveries – are withdrawing room service at the hotel as workers argue for a wage rise that addresses their cost of living in Australia’s most expensive city.
From 6pm, Crown Sydney Casino workers – including table games dealers whose walk out left the Casino’s gaming floor deserted last week – will once again be on strike, protesting against their treatment outside Crown Sydney at Barangaroo.
A general services attendant at Crown Sydney earns $25.92 an hour – less than $1 above the minimum wage – while servicing rooms used by global superstars Drake and Taylor Swift, with reported price tags of $38,900 a night.
In table games – where experienced dealers run baccarat, roulette and blackjack tables for high-end players – Crown Sydney table games dealers are up to $12.46 an hour worse off than their Melbourne counterparts. The discrepancy amounts to a full-time Sydney worker earning $24,000 less than a Melbourne worker across a year.
“Our workers are taking protected action to let Crown know they should be treating their workers with respect, not screwing them down to wages that are impossible to live on in Sydney,” United Workers Union Casinos Director Andrew Jones said today.
“Our workers are proud of the work they do for Crown, and the high-end ‘Black Tier’ players they look after so well, but it’s tough to smile when paid wages that are difficult to live on in Sydney.
“Crown’s owner Blackstone just reported profits of $US2.8 billion – and that’s for the half year – but they are telling our workers they can’t afford to pay them any more.
“When Crown chooses to employ a churn-and-burn approach to staff, it’s no wonder Crown is being called out by those workers for poor treatment, with unfair wage offers and attempts to reduce their length-of-service increments.
“The facts remain that a general services attendant where Drake or Taylor Swift spends the night is being paid about $8 an hour less than their colleagues doing the same job at Crown Melbourne.
“Crown’s whole business relies on these workers—but they’re being paid less to do the same work in a city that costs more.
“This strike is about dignity, respect, and the right to build a decent life in this city.
“Our members have made it clear: to retain skilled hospitality professionals, Crown must pay them properly and respect their length of service. Instead, Crown is trying to cut length-of-service increments from the classification structure—a direct attack on experienced workers and their future pay.
“The workers’ action sends a clear message to Crown Sydney that the workforce won’t accept an unfair deal and they are exercising their legal rights to take industrial action.”
Background: Crown Sydney’s current offer is 3.25 per cent, 3 per cent and 3 per cent. The most recent Department of Employment and Workplace Relations report on bargaining shows March quarter private sector annualised wage increases stand at 3.9 per cent.
The views expressed in this press release are the industrial views of the United Workers Union.