Kathmandu: Workers affiliated with the Hyatt Regency Kathmandu hotel (formerly Tara Gaon Regency Hotel in Boudha) have accused the management of using the partial damage caused by vandalism during the Gen-Z movement as an excuse for an indefinite closure to lay off employees.
Employees claim that the 280-room hotel suffered only 3 to 5 percent damage following the Gen-Z movement on September 9. A hotel employee informed Clickmandu that if the hotel maintains good intentions and does not use the movement-related damage as a pretext, the repairs could be completed within 15 days.
“If we don’t make the damage from the movement an excuse and the hotel keeps clean intentions, it can be repaired within 15 days,” he said. “But the hotel is using the indefinite closure as a pretext to fire employees.”
Prior to the Gen-Z movement, the hotel had issued a notice in the third week of August stating that it would undergo renovation and operate at half capacity. According to the notice, 240 rooms would be renovated in the first phase, with tourists accommodated in the remaining ones. In the second phase, the remaining rooms would be repaired, and tourist bookings would be limited to 50 percent.
Employees allege that the hotel is exaggerating the damage to 8/10 rooms caused by the Gen-Z movement, using it as a reason for an indefinite closure to deprive workers of their jobs. The Hyatt Hotel currently employs 147 permanent staff and around 200 contract workers.
According to another employee working at the hotel, there is no need to fully close the facility just because of partial damage, especially since preparations were already underway for renovation with half the capacity shut down. He claims that the hotel is using the closure as an excuse to dismiss employees who have been serving for 25 years, issuing a notice telling them not to come to work.
After employees raised objections and pressured a board member, Rani Bang, two days ago, the hotel assured them that the notice would be corrected and a new one issued, according to the staff.
From the outside, it appears that the doors of 2/4 rooms have been broken, and smoke stains are visible on the exterior patios of about 40 rooms, according to hotel sources. “The hotel can’t operate right now. But if we paint, repair the damaged room doors, and fix the lobby within 15 days, it could be operational,” he said.
All items in the smoke-affected rooms are safe. The employees themselves moved the beds to the banquet hall for safekeeping, the employee informed Clickmandu.
However, the casino on the hotel premises has suffered 100 percent damage. It employed more than 500 staff. While the casino is not in a condition to resume operations immediately, the hotel has not suffered major damage, so the management should reopen it with the employees’ cooperation, they suggest.
Since Monday, the hotel’s employees have been staging a sit-in protest on the outer lawn. They demand that the hotel either provide them with employment or send them off with facilities as per the Labour Act.
The hotel’s employees had been reporting to work regularly after September 9. Even though the hotel was not operational, the management provided meals for the staff until the day before Laxmi Puja. After Tihar, however, employees were suddenly barred from entering the hotel and told not to come.
Since Monday, the hotel’s employees have been staging a sit-in protest on the outer lawn. They demand that the hotel either provide them with employment or send them off with facilities as per the Labour Act.
Meanwhile, the hotel’s General Manager, Sureshlal Shrestha, stated that they cannot provide services from a damaged building, so they will offer workers facilities as per the law and send them off amicably.
“After the Gen-Z movement, 70 rooms and the lobby of this hotel have been damaged. It will take some time to reconstruct. The hotel is working on redesigning for reconstruction, studying the damage, and aims to complete the rebuilding and resume operations within a year,” he told Clickmandu.
He said they will provide employees with facilities as stipulated by the law. He claimed that discussions are ongoing with the employees for this purpose.
“We are ready to provide the relief arrangements as per the law for the employees. We are sitting down and discussing with the employees for this,” he said. “The hotel’s employees will receive the facilities they are entitled to under the law. Since the employees are also ready to cooperate with the hotel management, we will work in a way that benefits both sides.”
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