NSW: IOC hotel takes staff to commission

AAP General News (Australia)
08-28-2000
NSW: IOC hotel takes staff to commission

SYDNEY, Aug 28 AAP - The official Olympic hotel has sought the intervention of the
industrial relations commission to prevent staff from taking any further strike action
over their claim for an Olympic allowance.

The five-star Regent hotel in Sydney which will be home to International Olympic Committee
executives including president Juan Antonio Samaranch, had agreed to meet a five-person
union delegation today.

But Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers Union (LHMU) spokesman said the talks
had resolved nothing.

The spokesman said hotel management had instead sought orders in the Australian Industrial
Relations Commission for an urgent hearing this afternoon to prevent workers from taking
further industrial action.

The move came after 50 workers this morning rallied outside the hotel demanding a $550
bonus over the Olympic period in line with other five-star hotels.

Union spokesman Mark Boyd said rolling stoppages at the Regent and other hotels were
likely in the lead up to and during the Olympics if the bonus was not approved.

Foreign media already in Sydney filmed and photographed the protest but Regent management
said the incident was not embarrassing to the hotel.

The Regent employs 700 staff, 130 of them union members.

AAP nd/sb/cd

KEYWORD: OLY REGENT LEAD

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