SkyCity worker feels 'dumped' after staff invited to donate salary

Tuesday, 21 April 2020

​SkyCity workers feel the company has turned on them after it asked staff to donate some of their pay to those made redundant.

The hotel and casino company has asked workers to contribute to a hardship fund after it laid off 200 staff earlier this month as it was losing about $90 million in revenue a month due to the coronavirus restrictions.

SkyCity chief executive Graeme Stephens said the SkyCity Employee Hardship Fund was set up after the company announced the mass redundancies. The company's restructure to save $50m would affect around 900 people.

But one worker, who did not want to be named, said 'a good employer has turned so, so quickly'.

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'At a time when the focus should be on people it is still on profit. The first communication and only communication has been about redundancies. Thanks for asking after our welfare,' the worker said.

'We have suffered, fires and losing cars, but Graeme said money can fix it, not really… Now this and he is dumping us. What a leader.'

Another worker, who did not want to be named, felt pressured into contributing his salary when he knew more redundancies were on the horizon.

'[The] company [is] blackmailing us if we want to keep our jobs.'

A SkyCity spokeswoman said it 'invited' employees to contribute after the company received messages from staff offering to help the company's financial position.

She also said the company had sent 26 communications in the form of emails, text messages, phone calls and intranet news stories and frequently asked questions sheets prior to the redundancy announcement.

She said SkyCity's communication had been clear that contributions were voluntary, confidential and would not disadvantage employees' positions if they chose not to contribute.

'Staff aren't requested, they're invited to contribute,' she said. 

In an email to staff seen by Stuff, Stephens said 30 senior leaders had contributed $1m collectively so far and was now 'inviting everyone to help where they can'.

Stephens said the funds passed on through grants or interest-ree loans up to $1000 would help former staff for whom a redundancy cheque was not enough.

Employees could make either a one-off donation or deduction of an agreed amount from each pay between May 13 and July 8.

Another option to contribute allowed staff to cash up annual leave for the company to donate the value to the hardship fund.

SkyCity has been paid $21.7m for 3272 staff through the Government's wage subsidy scheme.

The SkyCity spokeswoman said the wage subsidy scheme was separate from the hardship fund and was being passed on directly to staff.

Unite Union national secretary Gerard Hehir said SkyCity had not consulted with the union over the redundancies and had decided to cull staff before asking for the wage subsidy.

'SkyCity has increased people's hardship and then gone and asked other staff to reach into their pockets to support them,' Hehir said.

'This idea of 'we're all in this together' and should contribute together is not quite the same when you have someone earning the minimum wage and others on six figure salaries.'

The SkyCity spokeswoman refused to respond to the union's comments.

A third worker said staff who were made redundant in Hamilton had been with SkyCity for more than 20 years and had been praised for their hard work.

Workers found out about the 200 job cuts announced earlier this year through the media, before hearing from SkyCity, the worker said.

'We received a text message 15 minutes later and then email.'