Crown Sydney workers have today (EDS: Friday) pressed the \u201cdo not disturb\u201d button as they take strike action for the second week about pay and conditions at the casino and Sydney\u2019s most expensive hotel.<\/p>\n
From 11am Crown has been notified that general service attendants \u2013 who provide room make-up services and in-room deliveries \u2013 are withdrawing room service at the hotel as workers argue for a wage rise that addresses their cost of living in Australia\u2019s most expensive city.<\/p>\n
From 6pm, Crown Sydney Casino workers \u2013 including table games dealers whose walk out left the Casino\u2019s gaming floor deserted last week – will once again be on strike, protesting against their treatment outside Crown Sydney at Barangaroo.<\/p>\n
A general services attendant at Crown Sydney earns $25.92 an hour \u2013 less than $1 above the minimum wage \u2013 while servicing rooms used by global superstars Drake<\/a> and Taylor Swift<\/a>, with reported price tags of $38,900 a night.<\/p>\n In table games \u2013 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.<\/p>\n \u201cOur 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,\u201d United Workers Union Casinos Director Andrew Jones said today.<\/p>\n \u201cOur workers are proud of the work they do for Crown, and the high-end \u2018Black Tier\u2019 players they look after so well, but it\u2019s tough to smile when paid wages that are difficult to live on in Sydney.<\/p>\n \u201cCrown\u2019s owner Blackstone just reported profits of $US2.8 billion \u2013 and that\u2019s for the half year \u2013 but they are telling our workers they can\u2019t afford to pay them any more.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen Crown chooses to employ a churn-and-burn approach to staff, it\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n \u201cThe 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.<\/p>\n \u201cCrown\u2019s whole business relies on these workers\u2014but they\u2019re being paid less to do the same work in a city that costs more.<\/p>\n \u201cThis strike is about dignity, respect, and the right to build a decent life in this city.<\/p>\n \u201cOur 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\u2014a direct attack on experienced workers and their future pay.<\/p>\n \u201cThe workers\u2019 action sends a clear message to Crown Sydney that the workforce won\u2019t accept an unfair deal and they are exercising their legal rights to take industrial action.\u201d<\/p>\n