The Guardian 30 May, 2007
Airport catering staff
face $114 a week pay cut
Catering staff at Melbourne Airport face the loss of penalty rates, shift loadings, overtime pay and other entitlements that could see their take-home pay cut by $114 a week under a new job contract that is proposed by their employer, multinational catering company Delaware North.
The new job contract could affect up to 1,000 catering workers across Melbourne if, as unions fear, it is rolled out to other Delaware North food outlets including the Telstra Dome, Melbourne Zoo, Olympic Park and the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre.
Delaware North employs about 150 cooks, kitchen hands, waiting staff, bar staff and service attendants at Melbourne Airport. They work in a wide range of food outlets at the airport including licensed bars and cafés, a juice bar, a sandwich outlet, a breakfast outlet and a French-style "patisserie". The company also provides labour to the Hungry Jacks fast food outlet at the airport.
The new job contract would result in a wage reduction for many airport catering staff who are currently paid according to the Award.
For example, the rate of pay for a casual waiter would drop by $8.50 an hour on a Saturday and that of a permanent kitchen-hand by $9 per hour on a Sunday. A permanent waiter would be $9 an hour worse off working on a public holiday.
Some part-time bar attendants/cashiers stand to lose up to $114 a week, their wage for a 30-hour week would drop from about $612.33 (before tax) each week to just $497.68 (before tax) under the new job contract. Over a year, this would amount to a pay cut of nearly $6,000.
For many workers, the new job contract would see the loss of other entitlements including redundancy pay, shift penalties, overtime pay and allowances, such as the airport parking allowance ("travelling allowance").
Delaware North is a multi-national food services and hospitality company. It is one of the largest privately owned companies in the world and employs over 40,000 people in the US, the UK, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.
Delaware North knows that it can use the new IR laws to push down the wages of its workers. This new contract for airport catering staff is the thin end of the wedge that could reduce the pay and conditions of thousands of other employees at its other major venues.