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Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Sunday, December 30, 2018
Bid to take over Hotel de Buhari
The pro-Government trade union – Jathika Sevaka Sangama (JSS) was this
week furious as they took to the streets in protest over alleged moves
to privatise a century-plus popular eating house in the heart of
Maradana, Colombo 10.
Employees attached to the Hotel de Buhari and members of the JSS decried the alleged move by the Education Minister and United National Party (UNP) General Secretary, Akila Viraj Kariyawasam, to hand over the management of the hotel to a private operator based in Kelaniya.
The JSS has been operating the Hotel de Buhari since 1993 after it won a public tender bid and acquired the operations of the establishment for Rs. 9.8 million.
Late President Ranasinghe Premadasa had insisted at that time that the hotel should only be managed by a local trade union and the benefits should go straight to the worker.
Premadasa’s decision came after he observed that the Singapore taxi service was operated by members of the Singapore National Trade Union Federation (SNTUF) and that it was reaping in heavy profits.
That probably gave him the idea to hand over the operations of the State-owned hotel to a trade union in the country through a fair bidding process, a former top JSS official explained.
He said the hotel was founded over a century ago by a family from Kerala in South India and it was later acquired by the State during the Sirimavo Bandaranaike Administration.
However, with the latest alleged moves by a senior Minister to hand over the management to a private individual, the workers fear they would lose their jobs and other benefits which they had enjoyed since 1993.
“We will not let this happen and I will be meeting Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe for serious discussions in this regard.
As a union, we are here to protect the welfare and interests of the workers at every level and sector and the De Buhari is no different”, JSS President Srinath de Mel said.
He added that any private takeover of the hotel management or otherwise will lead to the slashing of benefits and salaries to 101 workers currently employed there, and this should never the case.
“If we let down the workers at the de Buhari, it would lead to a lack of trust and confidence in the Party by other thousands of JSS members in other sectors.
How could we let this happen as a respected and major trade union?”, he asked.
Minister Kariyawasam could not be reached for comment in this regard today (29).
Employees attached to the Hotel de Buhari and members of the JSS decried the alleged move by the Education Minister and United National Party (UNP) General Secretary, Akila Viraj Kariyawasam, to hand over the management of the hotel to a private operator based in Kelaniya.
The JSS has been operating the Hotel de Buhari since 1993 after it won a public tender bid and acquired the operations of the establishment for Rs. 9.8 million.
Late President Ranasinghe Premadasa had insisted at that time that the hotel should only be managed by a local trade union and the benefits should go straight to the worker.
Premadasa’s decision came after he observed that the Singapore taxi service was operated by members of the Singapore National Trade Union Federation (SNTUF) and that it was reaping in heavy profits.
That probably gave him the idea to hand over the operations of the State-owned hotel to a trade union in the country through a fair bidding process, a former top JSS official explained.
He said the hotel was founded over a century ago by a family from Kerala in South India and it was later acquired by the State during the Sirimavo Bandaranaike Administration.
However, with the latest alleged moves by a senior Minister to hand over the management to a private individual, the workers fear they would lose their jobs and other benefits which they had enjoyed since 1993.
“We will not let this happen and I will be meeting Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe for serious discussions in this regard.
As a union, we are here to protect the welfare and interests of the workers at every level and sector and the De Buhari is no different”, JSS President Srinath de Mel said.
He added that any private takeover of the hotel management or otherwise will lead to the slashing of benefits and salaries to 101 workers currently employed there, and this should never the case.
“If we let down the workers at the de Buhari, it would lead to a lack of trust and confidence in the Party by other thousands of JSS members in other sectors.
How could we let this happen as a respected and major trade union?”, he asked.
Minister Kariyawasam could not be reached for comment in this regard today (29).
