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Power workers strike stops Kiama Snap Fitness gym build

The Bugle App

Malcolm King

04 July 2024, 6:37 AM

Power workers strike stops Kiama Snap Fitness gym build

Industrial action by Endeavour Energy workers has stopped the building of the Snap Fitness 24/7 on Terralong Street.


A pay dispute between Endeavour Energy and its workers means the multi-million dollar gym with no roof or walls on the newly completed Woolworths site, will stay unfinished until the strike is resolved.


Snap Fitness 24/7 owner Mark Jacobs said that he had hoped the new gym would have been finished by Easter and then by June, but the completion date is being pushed back and back.


A Kiama local, Mark Jacobs says he is at his “wits’ end” because he has a contract with both Endeavour Energy and the builders, and has a large number of members already signed up.



“I can’t say much except I am losing money big time. I have tried every avenue but there is not much I can do about a strike.”


Mark Jacobs is losing $6,000 a week to the scaffolding company alone but he is determined to get the gym built.


Endeavour Energy offered its workers an upfront payment of $1,000, followed by fair pay increases of 5.25 per cent from 1 July 2024, a 3.25 per cent increase from 1 July 2025 and a 2.75 per cent increase from 1 July 2026.


The Electrical Trades Union (ETU) rejected the offer and took industrial action in February, which included work stoppages.



The unions are seeking an eight per cent pay increase year-on-year and have included a log of 65 other claims.


The most recent offer from Endeavour Energy was voted down by workers in March and ETU members ramped up industrial action.


Endeavour Energy said discussions on the enterprise agreement will continue and it is “committed to working constructively with employees throughout this process.”


This doesn’t help Mark or the gym members who have signed up.


The new gym offers flexible membership options, 24-7 access, free weights, cardio and functional training zones, personal training, heart monitoring and more.



According to the gym’s website, membership installments will commence once the gym has opened.


In 2004, Snap Fitness started franchising in the US. Locations were added in Australia and New Zealand in 2009. As of 2008, Snap Fitness has 910 clubs with 400,000 members in 46 states in the US.