It seems that the Tasmanian gambling landscape is turning into a heated arena of discussions and struggle for power advantage. The two casinos of the state have seen many employees trying to win a pay rise at a time when Federal Group, the local gambling giant, has put Labor Party’s poker machines policy under fire.
Reportedly, the two casinos in the Tasmania – Hobart-located Wrest Point Casino and the Launceston Country Club have seen some of their staff members decide against the operator’s latest offer to boost their salaries with 1.8% over a period of three years. Employees have opposed to the company’s suggestion saying that the pay rise would not be equal to the constantly increasing living costs.
Federal Group, however, does not seem to follow its workers’ idea, as it argued they were already getting salaries that were “well above” the standards in the country’s gambling industry.
On the other hand, the trade Australian union United Voice, which many casino workers are members of, commented that it is trying to oppose to the gambling operator’s push to remove some redundancy provisions, to reduce the number of the machines available and cut the casino roaster cycles to two from four for the time being.
Severe Underemployment in the Sector
The organisation has shared its concern that currently there was “severe underemployment” in the sector, as local employees needed more shifts that they eventually did not get.
Jessica Sanders from United Voice commented that the reduction of casino roaster cycles is expected to greatly affect the union’s members, and especially the ones who work at the Hobart casino. According to Ms. Sanders, the casino and its offerings have turned into part of local people’s lives and such a reduction would affect it in a negative way.
Still, she admitted that casino employees got higher salaries than other employees of the gambling giant but also shared her concern with the fact that some casino workers of the company were only given three-hour shifts which were absolutely insufficient for them. What is more, some employees of Federal Group have shared concerns about keeping their jobs in case the Labor Party wins the upcoming election, considering its gambling policy to be followed.
Tasmania Sees Heated Debate over Pokies
The situation with the casino workers comes at a time when Federal Group has been trying to oppose to the Labor Party’s attempts to strip Tasmanian pubs and clubs off the poker machines that are currently available there. It was only last week when the gambling giant revealed its intentions to fund a campaign against the Labor Party’s gaming policy.
The local Labor Party has promised that it would remove the so-called poker machines from Tasmanian clubs and pubs by 2023 in case that it wins the election that is to take place in March 2018. For the time being, the anti-pokies policy of the Labor Party has been backed by the Greens and the Jacqui Lambie Network.
The Liberal Government, on the other hand, has pledged to keep the current status quo in case that it gets a second term, but revealed its intentions to grant individual licenses.
- Author
Daniel Williams
