ASIA: SOS from Sri Lanka's Hotel Employees

By Munza Mushtaq

COLOMBO — Most posters plastered in every nook and cranny in Sri Lanka often address political and trade union issues. They seldom highlight issues connected to the hotel industry, which is often identified as a hunky-dory sector with few concerns.

However, a recent poster blitz in and around the commercial capital has openly confronted this myth, showcasing that the industry is today facing what is probably its biggest challenge ever, contrary to continuous verbal assurances from the government claiming otherwise.

With Sri Lanka’s flaccid tourism industry showing no signs of immediate recovery, a larger threat looms over the future of thousands of employees who are either directly or indirectly employed in this sector.

CROSSROADS

Apart from fighting the war and facing a series of dicey political muddles, this nation known as the ‘pearl of the Indian Ocean’ is now at a crossroads even in the sphere of tourism, a major foreign exchange earner to the country. One only has to read three simple words – ‘Save Our Jobs’ – on a poster to realise this.

In June 2007, the Sri Lanka Tourist Board reported a 30 percent drop in tourist arrivals since June 2006. According to local news reports, tourist arrivals only numbered about 30, 800, compared to the 44,000 visitors last year.

The drop in tourist arrivals to the country mainly owing to the deteriorating security situation has led to several hotels in popular tourist areas, such as those down south and up-country, to retrench contractual or temporary employees who have been working in these hotels for years.

The Inter Company Employees Union (ICEU), which is spearheading the campaign to safeguard the jobs of these workers, pointed out that some 55,000 directly associated in the sector — and around 150,000 indirect beneficiaries — face the threat of losing their jobs if the present crisis continues.

LOSING JOBS

Several hundred workers who had been employed in hotels down south, such as Sigiriya, Dambulla, Habarana and even Kandy, have lost their jobs as hotel management had been unable to pay salaries following the drop in tourist arrivals.

“Hotel employees who used to earn at least 15,000 rupees (317 U.S. dollars) per month from service charge tax alone are now getting less than 5,000 rupees (124 dollars) per month from this tax, making it impossible for them to survive, especially given the skyrocketing cost of living,” pointed out ICEU General Secretary Wasantha Samarasinghe, who is also a parliamentarian.

According to him, hotel employees survive on monies earned from the service charge tax, as their salaries, especially those of employees of the lower grades, are very low, with some earning a mere 6,000 rupees (148 dollars) per month.

He emphasised that employees ranging from waiters, pool boys and beach boys to cleaning staff have lost jobs during the past few months and the trend is likely to continue, with no positive signs for improvement on the horizon.

Apart from small-time hotels, even luxurious hotels, including five-star hotels and a few boutique hotels primarily located down south, have refused to renew contracts of employees who were working on temporary or contract basis as they have not been making any proper income for the upkeep of these employees.

GOVERNMENT INACTION

Samarasinghe also charged that the government was doing “nothing” to allay the fears of tourists, and thereby the situation was leading to a virtual deadlock.

“We see the Bandaranaike International Airport promoting Maldives with glossy and inviting pictures of that country, while very little is done to promote Sri Lanka, even within the country,” he alleged.

However, Deputy Tourism Minister Faiszer Musthapha strongly refuted the charges, claiming that tourism authorities were doing their utmost to allay the fears of tourists and were aggressively promoting the country’s image abroad.

“We have been having road shows in several countries during the past few weeks, and I am due to leave tomorrow to Jordan and Kuwait for promotional purposes,” he said recently.

However, the ICEU charged that ‘road shows’ were not sufficient. Instead, a ‘wholehearted’ approach must be adopted, similar to that adopted by the then government soon after the militant secessionist organization Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) attacked the country’s only international airport in 2001.

BRAIN DRAIN

The government’s ‘work abroad’ concept has also drawn a lot of flak, with some hoteliers, who declined to be named, claiming that Sri Lanka will be facing a severe brain drain if the hoteliers keep leaving the country for overseas prospects.
Musthapha is reportedly leading the ‘work abroad’ theory. However, defending his concept again, the deputy tourism minister noted that his objective was to “supply the demand,” immaterial whether it is in Sri Lanka or abroad.

“In the event of a brain drain, which would mean a labour shortage, I think the market will be able to adjust to this,” he said.

He also claimed that when hotels began retrenching staff, he intervened and got them overseas opportunities. “This is better than them being jobless in Sri Lanka,” he added.

(*The writer is the Deputy News Editor for a leading English language newspaper in Sri Lanka.)