Warriors Fans Asked To Back Sydney Strikers

New Zealanders crossing the Tasman for this weekends rugby league game are being asked to show support for striking Sydney Hilton Hotel workers.Sydney-based Kiwis and Pacific workers are walking the picket line on Saturday, and while they are rooting for the NZ team, they want the NZ fans staying at the Sydney Hilton Hotel to lend them their support.

Hotel union members are going on strike on Saturday for 24 hours after talks with management broke down this week over nearly 500 workers due to be laid off at the end of November.

Mark Boyd, the Hotel Union assistant secretary, said many New Zealanders are booked into the the Hilton Hotel for their stay in Sydney to watch the football.

Mark Boyd said the hotel was trying to pump up last minute profits before shutting down in eight weeks time.

"But our people are concerned that because of the strike, with short-staffing and inexperienced strike-breakers running the hotel, there could be long queues and a lot of frustration," he said.

"Were not going to try to stop the fans from entering the hotel because we know there is a shortage of rooms in Sydney because of the football game,
but we want to explain why there may be problems at the Sydney Hilton Hotel."

Mark Boyd said the union was hoping New Zealand fans would let hotel management know they were not impressed at the way they are treat their workforce.

On Saturday the union is asking hotel guests to take stickers from the workers outside the hotel and wear them when signing the hotel register and leave a note for management when signing out.

Mark Boyd said the Sydney Hilton Hotel was spending $400 million on an 18-month facelift but was not prepared to pay their loyal workforce a good redundancy deal, let alone offer the workers their own jobs back when the hotel re-opens in 2003.

"They are getting rid of their staff at the worst time of the year, just weeks before Christmas and they are offering a retrenchment deal which is less than half what most Sydney workers can expect in a retrenchment package," Mark Boyd said.