HOTEL workers are planning a two-hour demonstration in Limassol on May 10 to protest against working conditions they say fall below trade union standards.
The unions say the Limassol strike could be the first on a series of industrial actions across the national tourism sector if hoteliers continue to ignore their demands for better treatment.
The Secretary General of SEK, Nicos Epistethiou told the Cyprus Mail yesterday that hotels were refusing to honour agreements with employees.
Some of the most serious violations are lack of employee provident funds, and no discussion about compensation for working on Sundays and public holidays.
The workers accuse hotels of keeping the 10 per cent extra charged to all customers for service, when the money should be distributed to members of staff.
The exact number of hotels failing to measure up is not yet known and complaints vary from hotel to hotel.
Unions SEK and PEO have sent letters to the Hoteliers Association and to Minister of Labour Andreas Moushiouttas informing them of their complaints and their collective decision.
Moushiouttas replied that any hotel that failed to distribute the 10 per cent service tax would be severely reprimanded.
If employers make no move to honour their agreements before May 10, then the two-hour walkout will go ahead.
Industrial action, coming as pace in the hotel industry hots up for the busy summer season, could be come as an embarrassment for hoteliers.
The Director general of the Hoteliers’ Association, Zacharias Ioannides, was yesterday unavailable for comment.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
