Workers at Star’s Brisbane Casino walk off the job over pay dispute

Hundreds of workers at Star’s Brisbane Casino have walked off the job over a pay offer that would leave ‘workers facing a real-wage cut’.

Workers at Star’s Brisbane Casino are set to walk off the job on Friday over a pay offer. Picture David Clark

Embattled casino operator Star Entertainment was dealt a fresh blow on Friday, with workers at the company’s Queen’s Wharf casino in Brisbane walking off the job over a pay offer that would leave “workers facing a real-wage cut”.

Hundreds of workers took part in the protected industrial action on Friday, after the entertainment group “failed to bring a reasonable offer to the table”.

United Workers Union president Jo Schofield said the current four per cent pay offer to Star’s Brisbane employees was “insulting”, and added that it left them “well behind” what other casino workers were earning in other states.

“Workers at Star are facing cost-of-living pressures … and they’ve shown a commitment to this company and loyalty over what’s been an incredibly tumultuous period,” she said.

“Workers have faced uncertainty for over 18 months … (yet) they have showed up for work every day to keep the business going, sometimes without any guarantee that they will be paid at the end of the week.”

Kaine Kennedy, a bartender at Star Brisbane, said his wage was only 60 cents above the minimum wage.

“If I was doing the exact same job at the Star Sydney, I’d be getting almost $2 an hour more than what I currently earn,” he said.

“That’s the kind of discrepancy we’re talking about. And the offer that’s coming from the company right now is one that leaves our wages below Covid levels.”

Workers at Star's Brisbane Casino are set to walk off the job over a pay offer on Friday. Picture: Marcus de Blonk Smith

Ms Schofield said she hoped the strike action would lead to a “decent offer” for workers, but added the union was prepared to escalate action “until Star stops choosing corporate greed over common decency”.

A spokesman for The Star said the company was “disappointed” at the strike action.

The company added it valued “all our team members” and that it had “been in long and challenging EA negotiations with unions”.

“We have been flexible, diligent and measured in making an offer that adds wage growth for team members whilst absolutely stretching the financials of the business,” a spokesman told The Australian.

Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie called on the entertainment group “to look after their workers”.

“Our priority has always been the staff at Star,” he told ABC radio. “Any deal that is struck between Star and the administrator has to have workers at the forefront.”

It comes as Star Entertainment’s future was once again thrown into doubt on Monday, with Hong Kong-based Queen’s Wharf investors Chow Tai Fook Enterprises and Far East Consortium threatening to terminate a deal seen as a crucial part of the cash-strapped casino operator’s plan to avoid liquidation.

The termination will come into effect in a week unless Star can revive the agreement, which would have seen Star’s joint venture partners in Queen’s Wharf buy Star’s 50 per cent stake in the Brisbane casino development.

Separately, US casino operator Bally’s Corp has warned its $300m rescue deal for Star with pubs billionaire Bruce Mathieson might be untenable if financial crimes watchdog Austrac fines Star $400m for money laundering.