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Demanding the inclusion of hotel employees in the decree for payment of unemployment benefits, due to the suspension of work for the winter season, as well as acceleration of the procedure for the payment of benefits, hotel employees participated on Wednesday in the protest meeting organized by the Cyprus Guild of Hotel and Leisure Centre Employees of the PEO (SYXKA-PEO) outside the Ministry of Labour.
The assembled people held banners with slogans such as "We demand monthly payment of the unemployment allowance", "It was not our choice not to work, but the conditions of the pandemic forced us to do so". A delegation of the Guild met with the Director General of the Ministry and handed him the petition with the demands of the workers.
For his part, the Director General of the Ministry told the delegation of the Guild that the Minister of Labour will take the issue to the Council of Ministers and will inform them accordingly, according to what was announced after the meeting by the Secretary General of SYXKA, Neophytos Ttiminis, after the end of the meeting.
For his part, the Director General of the Ministry told the delegation of the Guild that the Minister of Labour will take the issue to the Council of Ministers and will inform them accordingly, according to what the Secretary General of SYXKA, Neophytos Ttiminis, announced after the meeting.
As he told CNA, the protest meeting had been announced by the Guild several days ago and concerned Social Security issues, as thousands of workers in the hotel industry, especially in Famagusta and Paphos provinces, do not receive benefits. Although the protest had been announced, instead of calling the protesting group, the Minister proceeded outside the institutional framework with yesterday's meeting with the SEK, and the DISY President "exploiting the issue for political, partisan benefits," he said.
He called on the Minister to stay within the institutional framework and added that "the problems of workers are common to all workers and this industry does not need mediators or machine gods to solve problems. It needs a dialogue and a government and a ministry that makes the political decisions that solve the problems of the workers."
In response to a question from the CNA on whether the Guild believes that its demands are covered, following yesterday's announcements by the Minister of Labour, he said that he, as General Secretary of the Guild, has no official information on what was agreed, other than what was published in the media yesterday.
The problem with the hotel workers arose from the fact that, due to the pandemic, they were unable to complete the necessary working time required to qualify for unemployment benefits. At the same time, they are not covered by the plans announced by the government to suspend work.
"We have been unpaid since November," Hara Spyrou, a hotel employee for 25 years, told CNA. "It's not us who didn't want to work. They closed the hotels because of the coronavirus," she added.
The guild's general secretary told those present that if their demands are not met or if "the scene of decisions being taken behind our backs" is repeated again, they will come back with a new protest.
Source: CNA
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