Sydney Hilton Hotel squirms

Date: 30 August 2002

The Hilton Hotel's top man in Australia, Oded Lifschitz, squirmed in his seat this morning as he tried to avoid telling the Sydney media how much he would get paid in a golden handshake if his employer retrenched him.

" Mr Lifschitz went red and squirmed with embarrassment trying to avoid telling the world why he was to be treated so differently from the hundreds of low-waged workers employed by his flagship hotel in Australia," Mark Boyd, the LHMU Hotel Union's NSW Assistant Secretary said today.

" Finally - after some hesitation - Mr Lifschitz avoided answering simply by saying - oh, he was not covered by the Award.

" You can always tell when people have a bad conscience - Mr Lifschitz definitely looked like he had a bad conscience trying to avoid replying to this question," Mark Boyd said.

Mr Lifschitz went redfaced during a media conference today, called to announce that the Sydney Hilton Hotel was to be shut down for refurbishment at a cost of $400 million.

Overnight Hilton International's head office in London was predicting that Sydney would be part of a new international growth plan.

The Hilton Group's finance director, Brian Wallace, boasted to London journalists, when the company profit results were released, that despite the fact that interim profits for the Group are down revenue per available room was now rising.

" We have moved back to positive on a whole of the world basis," Mr Wallace told London media yesterday.

Hilton workers not so positive

But Hilton Hotel workers in Sydney are not feeling positive because they are not being included in these plans.

" The Hilton Hotel has now begun a campaign of muddying the waters on the retrenchment pay issue," Mark Boyd said.

" At the media conference in Sydney today they suggested that the average long-term Hilton Hotel employee would walk away with at least six months wages when the hotel shuts down in November.

" That six month dollar figure floated includes holiday pay, long service leave and other entitlements which our members would receive even if the Hilton was not shutting its doors.

" It is laughable that they are suggesting largesse when there is no largesse involved," Mark Boyd said.

Hilton Hotel workers, who are under a Federal Award, receive only 8 weeks retrenchment pay if they are full-time workers, casuals get nothing.

New jobs

" The boast by management that Hilton workers will be able to walk easily into a new job was laughable - telling people about jobs available in Athens, Greece, is not much good for a low-waged worker with a family in the outer suburbs of Sydney.

" The reality is that the November close is a poor time to find a new job when the business cycle is slowing down for the summer break few people are advertising new jobs.

" Many of our people will have to wait till late January, early-February to find new work - by that time the retrenchment pay will have run out."

The LHMU Hotel Union is campaigning for better retrenchment pay, guaranteed offer of work for all existing employees when the hotel re-opens, and a mutually agreed quality free outplacement service providing upskilling training opportunities - as well as job search opportunities - for all workers for at least six months.

The LHMU proudly represents more than 130,000 hard working women and men throughout Australia.

For further information: Mark Boyd, LHMU Hotel Union, 0425 214 755

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