Hotel workers continue strike

Staff at an upmarket central Auckland hotel will continue their strike, despite being issued with a lockout notice today.

Service and Food Workers Union northern regional secretary Jill Ovens said the industrial action was a wake-up call for managers of Rendezvous Hotel, who had not given staff a pay rise for two years.

"There are over 450 rooms to clean, so the managers were pretty busy today," she said.

"We will be going on strike again tomorrow, and we will be speaking to our lawyers in the morning about the lockout notice.

"Our members are very staunch but it will be up to them how long the strike will continue," Ms Ovens told NZPA.

Workers were offered a 1.5 per cent rise on condition that they give up other entitlements, including one day of sick leave, subsidised health insurance, and affordable parking, she said.

The offer had been rejected.

Hotel general manager Emilio Fortini confirmed that a lockout notice had been issued this afternoon.

"We're still in negotiations with the union so we're not in a position to discuss the situation.

"All the cleaning work was done today by department heads and management, to avoid any inconvenience for hotel guests.

"We hope to reach a resolution soon for everyone's benefit," Mr Fortini said.

The hotel was fully booked today and is the country's largest, according to its website.

- NZPA