Karnataka - Bangalore   

Hotel employees federation demands statutory benefits on Tourism Day

Bangalore: Even as the tourism industry is being pampered by the Government with tax rebates and other benefits, workers in the industry are denied statutory benefits such as minimum wages, provident fund and ESI, Hotel Employees Federation of India has said.

On World Tourism Day on Thursday, the trade union body demanded the formation of a national commission to frame guidelines on wages and service conditions of employees in the sector. The federation is holding a convention in Goa from October 3 to 5 to push for their demands.

Speaking at a press conference here on Thursday, G.R. Shivashankar, the convenor of the Karnataka State unit of the Hotel Employees Federation of India, said that less than 25 per cent of the two lakh service sector workers in Bangalore were getting minimum wages and other benefits. Most people were employed as either contractual or casual workers and were thrown out of jobs when they spoke up for their rights, he added. The situation was particularly bad in small hotels, said Mr. Shivashankar.

Blaming the Labour Department for not checking on child labour and other violations rampant in the service industry, Mr. Shivashankar said that most employees showed their workforce as less than 20, to evade statutory benefits.

All workers should get benefits irrespective of the number of employees in an organisation, Mr. Shivashankar demanded.

Ma Wei Pin, Regional Secretary of International Union of Food and Allied Industries Workers Association, and Franklyn D’Souza, India coordinator of the association, also spoke at the conference.

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