Tag: strike

EC employees strike over pay, demands resignation of 3 members

Employees of the Maldives Elections Commission (EC) have halted work this afternoon in a dispute over pay, while also demanding the resignation of three commission members they accuse of bias.

Around 45 EC employees who attended office today halted work at 2pm and moved to the commission’s meeting room where they staged a sit-down strike.  The list of reasons for the strike  were displayed on a projector screen, according to a senior employee who spoke to Minivan News on condition of anonymity.

The list included five separate accusations:

1.Employees doubt the impartially of commission members

2.Intimidation of staff

3. Lack of appreciation of staff

4. Making baseless accusations against employees

5. Commission members working for self-interest in violation of laws and regulations.

The strike concluded at 4pm today, though is scheduled to continue during tomorrow’s office hours, the employee noted, “until the commission agrees to the demands”.

“We are are mainly dissapointed over our pay, which is much lower than what the employees of other independent institutions are earning”, the employee claimed. “We receive 45 percent of our salaries as an allowance because the job prohibits us from working anywhere else and restricts our political freedom to prevent conflict of interest”

“Therefore, we are asking the commission to give us a monthly living allowance equivalent to that of Civil Service Commission (CSC)’s employees” the EC employee explained. “The living allowance will be a maximum of Rf3000 [USD194] only.”

Furthermore, he alleged that staff had serious concerns over the “lack of integrity and independence” of three members of the five seat commission; Mohamed Farooq, Ali Mohamed Manik and Ogaru Ibrahim Waheed.

“They are not working impartially,” he claimed, adding that Farooq had argued against giving living allowances to employees. “But if you look at the audit report alone, the members have spent thousands in violation of the public finance regulations in buying mobile phones, ipads and covering phone allowances”.

“We are demanding the resignation of Farooq, Manik and Waheed if our demand for living allowance cannot be fulfilled,” he added.

Minivan News could not reach commission president Fuad Thaufeeq or deputy Ahmed Fayaz Hassan at the time of press.

However, both were quoted in the local media saying that discussions were ongoing over releasing living allowances to the commission’s employees.  A final decision has not been made on the matter.

The pair have not responded to allegations of bias directed at three members of the commission.

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Alidhoo Resort sacks 12 staff members following strike over unpaid salaries

The Tourism Employees Association of Maldives (TEAM) has condemned a decision made by Alidhoo Resort to sack 12 staff members following a strike over unpaid salaries held last week.

On Thursday July 21 Maldivian staff working at the resort in Haa Alifu Atoll declared themselves on strike claiming that the management of the resort had not paid them salary for the previous month.

“It is almost the end of this month and Ramadan is coming up – we have to send money to our families back on the islands and we are really broke,” a staff member working in the resort told Minivan News at the time.

He claimed allowances of the staffs working in the resort had not been paid for the last three months, including service charge and overtime. He further claimed that expatriates working on the island had not received their salaries for three months, but feared for their jobs if they joined the strike action.

The management first told staff that the payments were delayed because the chairman of the company was not in the Maldives, he claimed.

“When he came back, they said the banks were not giving money to the resorts – how can we believe them now?” the staff member said.

The resort’s management dismissed 12 employees following the strike.

Alidhoo’s Human Resources Manager Ali Naseer told Minivan News that he did not have any information that a strike was conducted on the island.

“Many staffs have been dismissed over different issues, issues perhaps concerning their performance,” he said.

Vice President of TEAM, Mauroof Zakir, said the worker’s organisation condemned the management’s decision.

“On many occasions in many tourist resorts, staff have been dismissed after they strike for their rights,” Mauroof said.

He said he had information that police arrived on Alidhoo resort at midnight on the day of the strike, and escorted the dismissed members of staff off the island.

“We will hold a meeting very soon following this incident,” Mauroof said.

Alidhoo Resort is operated by the Maldivian company Yachttours, owned by local businessman Abdulla Jabir who is currently running as a candidate for Chairperson of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

Minivan News contacted Jabir for comment but was told “don’t ever call me about this again.”

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Alidhoo resort staff on strike over unpaid wages

Maldivian staff working at Alidhoo Resort in Haa Alifu Atoll have declared themselves on strike claiming that the management of the resort had not paid them salary for last month.

The resort is operated by Yacht Tours, owned by local businessman and former MP Abdulla Jabir.

“It is almost the end of this month and Ramadan is coming up – we have to send money to our families back on the islands and we are really broke,” said a staff member working in the resort.

He claimed allowances of the staffs working in the resort had not been paid for the last three months, including service charge and overtime.

“Last week we spoke with the management about our salaries and they said we will be paid today, and today they said they will pay us next Monday,” he said. “Now we are not very confident with this management so we have decided to continue this strike until they pay us.”

The management first told staff that the payments were delayed because the chairman of the company was not in the Maldives, he continued.

“When he came back, they said the banks were not giving money to the resorts – how can we believe them now?” the staff member said.

He claimed that expatriates working on the island had not received their salaries for the past three months.

“They want to join us in the strike but they fear that they might be fired and sent back to their countries,” he said, adding that the expats were supporting the strike although they were not physically involved.

Vice President of Tourism Employees Association of Maldives (TEAM) Mauroof Zakir told Minivan News that TEAM was not officially involved in the strike.

“TEAM has decided not to participate in any strike that is conducted without informing TEAM prior to the commencement of the strike,” Mauroof said. “However, we have given Alidhoo staff instructions.”

Mauroof said TEAM made the decision in a recent meeting because “whenever the strike reaches an uncontrollable status, that’s when the staff see TEAM, and when it reaches that situation it is very hard for us to solve the issues.”

Chairman of Yatch Tours Abdulla Jabir told Minivan News that the delay was caused because he was not in town.

“It will be arranged sometime today,” he said. “The payments were delayed because I was not here.”

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Resort giant rejects dismissed local workers’ allegations of foreigner bias

Hospitality giant Conrad Hotels and Resorts has rejected accusations concerning its treatment of a group of Maldivian workers made redundant earlier this month at its Rangali Island Resort, claiming the site adheres to both company and Maldivian labour laws when dealing with staff.

Responding to accusations made by a group of 29 staff that resort management recently decided to make redundant over concerns about profitability during the low season, Conrad claimed all its staff were treated “fairly” regardless of their ethnicity.

The group of staff dismissed this month by the company have alleged that whilst working at the Conrad Rangali Island Resort, they witnessed multiple examples of Maldivian workers being discriminated against in favour of expatriate workers of other nationalities. The group claimed that some staff were additionally made to flout expiry dates and other quality standards by management figures.

Some of the allegations reflect wider concerns about the treatment of Maldivian staff across the country’s resort industry, says the Tourism Employees Association of Maldives (TEAM), which it claims varies significantly in comparison to other countries.  The group claimed that these discrepancies may, in some cases, verge on being “racial abuse”.

Not singling out a particular resort for the practices, TEAM told Minivan News that it believed there were widespread discrepancies in the treatment of Maldivian resort staff in areas such as payment compared to resort workers of other nationalities.

“There are bigger concerns regarding some of these issues – particularly we see there is some salary discrepancy between Maldivian staff and other employees,” claimed TEAM President Ahmed Shihaam. “Right now however, we are focusing on more prominent concerns such as the possible introduction of a national minimum wage.”

The group of workers dismissed from Conrad this month claimed that they believed they had been removed from their positions for demanding action on issues involving site management and staff.  The workers were dismissed with redundancy packages, according to Conrad.

According to the group, management figures had threatened to fire members of staff for their role in trying to raise the issues, which they claimed were linked to strikes taking place at the resort over several days in March of this year.

“There is a lot of discrimination going on in the island, foreigners are more favoured than Maldivians, they earn more, have luxurious rooms to sleep and everything is so perfect for them. We sleep 10-15 men in a room, while foreigners sleep maximum three in a room,” a dismissed former worker at the Conrad resort told Minivan News. ‘’It is very regrettable that we are being mistreated and enslaved in our own country.”

The spokesperson for the group claimed that none of the staff who were given redundancy by the company had deserved to be removed from their posts; having tried to ensure that the “high standards” expected of the resort were being met.

One member of the dismissed group who worked in the resort’s house keeping department alleged that human resources officials at the site turned a blind eye when some staff failed to properly wash towels beyond soaking them in water, drying them off and throwing them onto an office floor.

‘’One day when I was at the house keeping office I was told to wipe out the expiry date of all the mouth wash bottles that has expired,’’ the person claimed. ‘’I told the house keeper that he can’t do that, but I was forced to do it if I wanted to work there.’’

Amongst a list of accusations, the dismissed staff claimed that some senior management figures had  abused their roles by arranging to have the resort’s high-profile underwater restaurant dismiss confirmed bookings so as to accommodate a private dinner for a senior resort employee.

The spokesperson for the group claimed that the company was aware of the restaurant closure, as well as a number of policies it claimed breached rules on safety and employment regulation.

‘’[Local staff] have to test wine, which it violates the Tourism Act. It is also not allowed to have a Maldivian as a barmen, but currently there is a Maldivian barmen at the island,’’ he alleged.

The group’s spokesperson alleged that he and his colleagues had also been asked to open a number of expired yoghurt containers in the main restaurant’s kitchen and to pour them all in to a big bowel to serve for breakfast that morning.

‘’We did it, it was not something related to us or something that would harm us, but we complained to  the management and there was no action taken against it,’’ he said.

Resort response

Addressing the accusations made by its former staff, Conrad Hotels said it preferred not to enter into a “public discussion” concerning the claims. Conrad said it offered several official channels within its organisation that allowed staff to address particular concerns over adherence to company rules and policy during their employment.

The company added that as an international hotel chain, it worked to ensure its employment policies were in line both with Maldivian labour laws and global company standards in order to protect staff at Rangali Island. The resort employed almost three Maldivian workers to each expatriate member of staff, the resort noted.

“The hotel follows employment policies that are consistent with the country’s labour laws and the company’s own standard practices. This includes, but is not limited to fair remuneration, respectful treatment of our team members, training and development opportunities, diversity recognition and fair treatment for all,” stated the company. “It is important to note that as of June 2011, 74 percent of the resort’s team members are Maldivian.”

Conrad also reiterated its claim that the decision to release 29 staff was made based for business reasons – with all members receiving redundancy packages to “help them through the transition.”

Without commenting specifically on the policy of an individual resort, ‘Sim’ Mohamed Ibrahim, the Secretary General of the Maldives Association of Tourism Industry (MATI) said the group had not been made aware or been involved in dealing with concerns about discrepancies in the conditions of Maldivian resort workers, as compared to other nationalities.

However, Sim said he believed that the government would not allow Maldivian staff to be treated unfairly and in a disproportionate manner to other nationalities of workers under the conditions of its Employment Act.

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Sacked Conrad Rangali staff protest outside President’s Office

Staff dismissed from Conrad Rangali Island resort today gathered outside the President’s Office, demanding to meet President Mohamed Nasheed.

One of the 29 staff members protesting outside the President’s Office said he was “shocked” to have been dismissed after working for the resort for eight years.

”There were times when the situation of the resort was very poor, but I worked there because I loved working in the island,” he said. ”The management did not even consider all that when they dismissed me all of a sudden,” he added.

He said everyone dismissed had families and people to look after.

”I got the message that I was terminated from my job after playing football in the evening,” another staff member said. ”When I came back there were 15 missed calls and a text message from the management asking me to be present at the Human Resources Department.”

He said he went there and was told that he had been dismissed.

”They said they had to dismiss us due to low occupancy, but I work in a department that operates even if there were no guests at all,” he said. ”So I asked the management why they didn’t dismiss persons from the departments that have no work during the low season.”

He claimed the dismissal was due to a strike they held at the resort on March 23.

”We went on a strike over some issues regarding the service charge, but a whole force of police  arrived in full riot gear, with pepper spray and tear gas, and ended our strike,” he said .”But we strike because it is a right. We were terminated for demanding our rights, and now we have to beg on the streets.”

He called on the parliament to “pave the way” for the rights and freedoms guaranteed in the constitution.

”All the MPs do is go to parliament, shout at each other, climb up their desks and go home,” he said. ”Little children in our house have seen them do that and have started behaving like them.”

He noted that the resort’s management had paid the dismissed staff all the allowances as required in their employment agreement.

Conrad Rangali meanwhile confirmed that the management had decided to make 29 positions in the island redundant.

”Conrad Maldives Rangali Island confirms that due to the partial closure of its guest rooms for renovation and lower occupancies during the traditional low season in the Maldives, it has made 29 positions redundant,” the resort said in a statement.

”The redundancies affect only a small number of staff and the resort has offered generous redundancy payments to provide affected team members with financial support while they search for alternative employment.”

The resort also said it ”will not affect service levels at the resort in any way and the ratio of staff-to-guests will remain at a minimum of two members of staff to each guest room.”

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Maldivian ship crew on strike claiming two years of unpaid wages

The Maldivian crew of the cargo ship Gateway Prestige have gone on strike, claiming to be owed Rf 1 million (US$64,800) for two years of unpaid salaries.

Managing Director of Gateway Shipping, Mohamed Shareef, told newspaper Haveeru that he had informed police his vessel had been hijacked by his crew and requested an investigation.

“They don’t want to leave the ship, or set off, or allow anyone else on the ship. How can they work on the ship if they were not paid for two years? They wouldn’t have stayed,” Shareef told Haveeru.

The newspaper spoke to the vessel’s captain, Ibrahim Zahir, who said that as of April 2011 he was owed Rf522,000, the chief engineer Rf400,000 and the helmsman Rf100,000. He said they had been stranded twice in an Indian port without food, but had decided to finally go on strike after they were ordered to sea again after unloading in Male’.

“We stayed on the ship despite not getting paid for two years because those who left their jobs didn’t get paid a single penny. Every time the owner says due to the current situation we can’t be paid, but that they’ll pay us when things settle down,” he told the newspaper.

Police are conducting negotiations.

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Mass absenteeism at foreign employment section provokes lockdown

Staff at the foreign employment section of the Ministry of Human Resources, which handles visa applications for migrant workers, have gone on strike.

Human Resources Minister Hassan Latheef told Minivan News today that he has not been able to identify a specific reason for the strike, which has “jammed” the service.

‘’Only this morning we learned that they were not coming out for work,” he explained. “Every day many people come for the services from the department and we had to transfer the staff of other departments to that section. People gathered near the gate of the ministry and were furious as they had to wait long.’’

He added that irate members of the public had locked the gate from the outside while all the staff were in the building.

“We reported to the police and they arrived and broke the lock,’’ Latheef said. ‘’And the department commenced providing services again.’’

The ministry is now trying to ascertain why the employees have gone on strike.

“I do not think that it is a coincidence that all the staff were absent on one day and none of them is responding to calls,’’ said Latheef.

Permanent Secretary for the Human Resources Ministry Mahid Shareef also said the reason for the mass absenteeism was yet to be clarified.

“They usually complain about the lack of staff there, but we do not know whether that is the reason they did not come for work today,’’ he said.

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Nine staff at Alila Villa resign alleging threats of dismissal over strike action

Nine staff members working for the food and beverage (F&B) department of luxury five star resort Alila Villa have resigned following a strike in protest against the termination of the F&B supervisor.

“The staff resigned after the resort’s management warned them that they would be dismissed if they continued the strike,’’ a staff member working at the hotel told Minivan News. “They were demanding the management reinstate the job of the sacked supervisor, and remained in their rooms without coming out for work.’’

The staff member alleged the supervisor was dismissed for failing to sending his staff to a training class.

“The nine staffs working under him gave in their resignation letter and left the island when they realised that continuing the strike would only get them sacked,” he said.

The staff member claimed resort management had been looking for an opportunity to dismiss the F&B manager, after an incident during final days of Ramadan when the General Manager’s room was vandalised.

“Following the incident police officers arrived at the island and arrested three suspects,” the staff member said.

He claimed the suspects were kept in custody “without any evidence or witnesses”, but were released the next day.

“The three staff [arrested] were the three suspected by management [of committing the crime], but they were unaware of the incident,’’ the staff member claimed, alleging that management subsequently began blacklisting and dismissing “anyone who raised their voice against the management over poor staff facilities.”

“We keep telling the management that this is a five star luxury hotel, and they could do much better than this,’’ he said. “But everyone who tries to raise this subject gets terminated with the slightest provocation.’’

Human Resources Manager of Alila Villa Deepa Manual said Minivan’s information was incorrect.

“Similar events took place in the hotel, but at the moment we would not like to disclose any information regarding the issue,’’ she said.

Vice President of the Tourism Employment Association of the Maldives (TEAM) Ibrahim Mauroof, said the issue of staff mistreatment at resorts was “an issue of concern”.

”Because of the influence of resort owners, staff are often unaware of the rights they have that are stated in the constitution,” said Mauroof. ”Most of the time they do not even know how to demand their rights when they are abused.”

Mauroof added the new laws being drafted governing strike action would narrow the right to strike enshrined in the constitution.

”[The regulations] says that a strike can only be conducted with the consent of management, after it has been provided in a written document,” he said. ”Furthermore, if the strike obstructs the services and affects the customers, the strike can be declared unlawful and striking staff can be arrested.”

He said the issue was “a great concern”, but that it could still be resolved if the organisations involved “came to one table to discuss the issue.”

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DQP submits bill on industrial action: two days notice required for strikes

The Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) has submitted a bill to parliament regulating industrial action conducted by employees in the Maldives.

If passed, the bill requires employees to give 48 hours notice to employers before protesting, and restricts the timing of strikes to between 8:00am and 4:00pm.

“The employees can only boycott their work for a specified duration. For instance, for 24 or 48 hours,” DQP Deputy Leader and MP Riyaz Rasheed explained to newspaper Miadhu.

The bill comes a week after strike action at Kurumba Maldives led to the evacuation of guests and the arrest of 19 staff by police for intimidation and vandalism.

A statement by the resort’s parent company, Universal Enterprises, deplored the action and alleged strike organisers “sent employees armed with makeshift weapons to blockade the main kitchen and physically threaten staff serving meals to guests”.

The Kurumba strike was the most recent of several resort strikes this year. In April staff at the Shangri-La Villingili Resort went on strike after four workers were dismissed for allegedly playing on a PlayStation in a vacant villa, while in February staff at the Centara Grand Island Resort in North Ari Atoll held a strike complaining they were not receiving the service charges agreed to them by management.

Shangri-La Villingili eventually dismissed the 10 strike leaders and invited the remaining staff to return to work, while  Centara Grand increased the service charge allocated to staff after a representative from Ministry of Human Resources visited the island.

As most resorts operate on privately-owned islands, the nature of the sector makes the legality of industrial action contentious – while the Constitution provides the right to strike, workers cannot simply picket outside the factory gates and invariably protest on resort property, running into further conflict with management conscious of image in a highly service-oriented industry.

“MATI believes employees should not strike on resort [property] – this is the shop floor,” said Mohamed Ibrahim ‘Sim’ from the Maldives Association of Tourism Industry (MATI). “It has to be somewhere else. People do not understand that resort islands are standalone communities that must produce their own water and other amenities. A hotel in the city of Male’ does not face such disruption to essential services.”

Sim questioned the practicality of restricting  the hours of strike action, but acknowledged the bill’s objective of requiring notice for any stop-work action “and only after following established grievance procedures.”

Maldives Resort Workers (MRW), an active community of resort workers campaigning for fair treatment in the tourism industry, condemned the DQP bill as “effectively relegating protesting and demonstrations against working conditions in resorts to the era [of the former government].”

The introduction of a notice period would give employers “ample time to serve warning letters, suspensions, dismissals or anything to prevent a strike,” MRW claimed.

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