Labouring for Leisure. Work and Industrial Relations in the Tourism Industry. Case Studies of Casinos

The introduction of casinos to Australia constitutes an important element in the new leisure and hospitality industries associated with tourism expansion. Casino work shares many of the general structural and ideological features of hospitality work, but has distinctive features of its own, derived, in part, from the characteristics of security and close control. Employer initiatives to develop a flexible workforce have produced a fragmented internal labour market which weakens union attempts to influence the organization of casino work. Casino workers are divided into a highly trained, loyal core enjoying career opportunities and an unstable periphery with little control over the labour process or work relations. These developments have been accelerated by rapid technological changes and increasing market competition at national and international levels. A comparison of recent industrial disputes in two Australian States exposes the structural divisions and contradictions of casino work and highlights the need for a coherent union strategy.