Shangri-La Villingili Resort and Spa has invited striking staff to return to work, after 157 staff stopped working in protest over the dismissal of four villa hosts.
The villa hosts were dismissed after security and a duty manager discovered they had locked themselves in a guest villa with a PlayStation during a lunch break.
Senior management from the hotel chain flew into the Maldives earlier this week to resolve the situation, just as the Ministry of Human Resources and the Tourism Employees Association of the Maldives (TEAM) became involved.
A statement from the resort today said while management “acknowledges and accepts employees’ rights under Maldivian
Law, because of the serious nature of employee behaviour, 14 staff members will no longer be employed by the property.”
“The management will fill the resulting vacancies with Maldivians,” it added.
Other employees “are invited to return to work”, the resort’s statement said, adding that “initial claims that 65 employees were dismissed are untrue.”
“The resolution reflects the desire to move forward in a fair and reasonable manner considering the needs of the local community and all employees. The resort is operating as normal and no guests have been affected,” Shangri-La said.
Minivan News contacted one of the striking employees camped on Feydhoo, who said the protesters would stick to their original demands, which include a written statement from the resort reinstating the dismissed employees.
“Most of the strikers have been given first and last warnings, which means next thing they do wrong they will be dismissed,” he claimed.
The resort’s general manager went to Feydhoo yesterday and called the 14 dismissed strikers one by one to an area secured by riot police, the striker claimed, to inform them of their dismissal.
Vice President of TEAM Mauroof Zakir said those dismissed included the four villa hosts “and 10 staff who management suspects have been leading the strike.”
He noted that the protesting staff had taken a vote yesterday over whether to continue to with the strike “and the majority decided to continue.”
More than 80 staff are continuing to strike, he said, adding that the resort was continuing to operate normally “because the majority of staff are expatriate.”
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how about trying to stick to the rules for a change. warnings can be given for carelessness, minor behavioural problems etc. but this sort of rowdy behaviour cannot be accpeted in places that need to keep certain standards. how about hospitals and air traffic control towers? behaviour expected in those places would be very different from that of a "kanmathee kada". terms of employment would be very different as well.
dhivehin vaanee dhivehinnah! instead of bringing people down to your level,try to set better standards on your selves my fellow maldivians.
The issue has been settled for all of us, decision is fair and just. Nearly all strikers are now back to work.
We shoud leave this behind us and move forward..Let us Maldivian work together and not against each other.
great decision by the management. if the 'invited' staff decides to continue the strike, let them be. there are enough people in addu who would happily take up these jobs.
as for Team: the leadership of this group must resign immediately. time and time again they have proven how incapable, uneducated and irresponsible bunch they are. there are good people in this industry who can do a much better job for the welfare of resort staff than these guys who only know how to organize a strike.
aw cmon they were just playing station...hmm wonders which game they were playing...sorry, firing them for such behavior and calling it serious well thats just nuts man...managers chillout
You cant lock in a guest room and play games! They must be fired! I agree!
Having lived for over 5 years in the Maldives, I should say that the Maldivian's should be given more lectures, awareness of work place ethics and workshops regarding discipline and rules in work places. At the same time Foreign nationals who are making billions and trillions of money out of the resorts, must understand that just because they invest in a country it does not give them the right to bully the Maldivians and say nasty things about them on this website. It is their country and does not belong to Foreigners. Having worked in the Maldives I have had my ups and downs but I learned how to tackle and handle things in a peaceful manner. There are very good Maldivian people, who are caring and talented and who are genuine and who work hard. An example is the Male' Airport. If Maldivian's are so lazy who is issuing us visa's for entry? The hospital staff who cared when we fell ill..The older generation were Lazy but things have changed witht he younger generation and Some of them unfortunately don't get the opportunity to put their talents to good use because some foreign national comes along and takes the job. Tourism is needed for the existence of the Maldives and It is a few young people who are confused, who make mistakes but if they are handled in the proper way they can be trained to be useful to society. However I do not approve Nasty statements made about Maldivian's because Ive been a part of their country and culture, have made a lot of good, true and lasting genuine friends that are a part of the country with the most beautiful sea! So those who are having the problem, please be patient and let them adjust to your routines and way of work life without trying to force it on them. Just be patient..after all you are making money selling their country right?!!
oh come on dheyo. is your mind really that small?
they were not just playing PS. that is not the only thing they did. they got into a guestroom without permission, locked themselves and put do not disturb sign on - pretended not to be there, brought some chips and food to drink like for a party, slept on the bed, all during working hours or duty time --- tell me does that sound right to you? Is that kind of pre-planned mischief acceptable in the place where YOU belong?
If yes then you are hopeless. And there is no point explaining the reasons to you if your little mind will not understand.
The decision was the most fair and reasonable decision that could have been done. Think very hard about it and maybe someday you will agree.
MAUROOF.....before you try to organise these strikes in another resort again...first look at your self and look at what u are doingl a guy like you WOULD have deciplinary issues. anyone who has met you will know this. Now you are going around with your vendetta trying to get revenge on Resort owners. Not in your lifetime buddy. you would be better off playing playstation at home and coming up with another plan then going on strike. sorry