Hotels’ staff out in the cold this winter season
The tourism industry workforce that caters to the livelihoods of about 160,000 families will carry out a protest against the recent budget allocations and lack of relief for hotel staff. The protest comes at a time when the industry is set to welcome its peak season visitors.
A miserly Rs.385 million has been allocated to the Tourism Ministry for home stays that are primarily in the informal sector and a three-wheeler campaign with next to nothing made for promotions next year, the Hotel Workers Centre – Inter Company Employees Union National Convenor B. I. Abdeen told the Business Times on Friday.
They noted that one of the main issues highlighted by them was the increasing capacity of rooms and no proper plans in place to bring down the adequate number of visitors.
In this respect, he pointed out that they would be carrying out a protest in front of the Tourism Ministry office in Colombo.
Moreover, no changes to the minimum wages of hotel employees were made as it currently stood at Rs.13, 500 considered to be the lowest under the Wages Board salary structures.
Hoteliers have today reduced service charges’ payments by at least 40 per cent to workers due to low occupancies.
In this respect, Mr. Abdeen explained that if the industry views the service charge payments made to its employees as earnings then it is requested that at least 50 per cent of these earnings be added as a separate entity but included in the calculations of the EPF and ETF payments to workers.