An emergency meeting of HAN held on November 27 set a 72-hour deadline to withdraw the agitation. It had warned to shut the hotels if the protest was not called off during the deadline. [break]
HAN chief executive officer Madhav Om Shrestha said there was no alternative than to close down the hotels if the agitation continued. He said all star hotels would shut down if consensus is not reached to end the protest.
All Nepal Hotel and Restaurant Trade Union (ANHRTU) affiliated to Unified CPN (Maoist) has called the protest at Hotel Radisson, Yak and Yeti, Hyatt Regency and Shangrila demanding a 40 percent raise in salary and 100 percent in dearness allowance for the past 10 days.
Workers of the hotels are carrying out their duties tying black bands onto their arms.
However, ANHRTU chairman Ramesh Babu Panta said they were compelled to launch the protest as management body ignored their ´genuine´ demands. If the hotels were locked up, we would unlock them and operate, he said.
According to HAN, at present, workers of five star hotels are getting Rs. 13,950 monthly, four star hotels Rs. 10,560 monthly while resort workers Rs. 10,000 and three star hotels Rs. 7,500.
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