By REBECCA TORR
Published: 29th August 2007
MORE than 110 hotel employees have signed a petition calling for a minimum wage of BD200 plus allowances.
Officials from the General Trade Union for the Hotel and Catering sector say they are hoping to collect more than 1,000 signatures by the close of the petition at the end of Ramadan.
In addition to a minimum wage, the petition demands hospitality industry employees receive a 20 per cent to 50pc salary rise, a yearly increment, a yearly bonus for all staff, transport and social allowances and for wages to be paid monthly.
“You may think a 50pc increase is a lot, but there are some people who work at one or two star hotels and just get BD80, so 50pc is nothing,” union vice-president Suad Mubarak told the GDN.
By REBECCA TORR
Published: 29th August 2007
MORE than 110 hotel employees have signed a petition calling for a minimum wage of BD200 plus allowances.
Officials from the General Trade Union for the Hotel and Catering sector say they are hoping to collect more than 1,000 signatures by the close of the petition at the end of Ramadan.
In addition to a minimum wage, the petition demands hospitality industry employees receive a 20 per cent to 50pc salary rise, a yearly increment, a yearly bonus for all staff, transport and social allowances and for wages to be paid monthly.
“You may think a 50pc increase is a lot, but there are some people who work at one or two star hotels and just get BD80, so 50pc is nothing,” union vice-president Suad Mubarak told the GDN.
“We also need salaries to be paid monthly and sometimes they just pay the Bahrainis and not the expatriates.
“Our campaign includes all nationalities, not just Bahrainis.
“There are 18,000 people employed in the hotel industry and only 1,800 are Bahrainis. So there is a very good chance to increase the number of Bahrainis working in this industry by raising salaries, as they won’t come for these wages.”
Ms Mubarak said most hotel employees started on a minimum wage of between BD130 a month plus BD20 expenses, but this needed to be raised to a minimum of BD200 with additional expenses.
She said since the union had started working on the petition, some hotels had raised the minimum wage to BD200, but had taken away allowances.
In reality, she said, this meant employees’ pay packets had not changed and that was why fighting for a minimum wage plus allowances was essential.
“If hotels do this they will lose out because they will spend money on training and in the end employees will leave. They need to give incentives to keep these people,” she added.
The petition gained 51 signatures when it was launched on Sunday at the General Federation of Bahrain Trade Unions (GFBTU) premises in Adliya.
Hotel and Catering sector union members are now visiting hotels and other places to recruit more supporters.
Employees are also welcome to come to the GFBTU to sign the petition and for more information, can contact them on 17727333.
The union will send copies of the petition to all hotels, related societies and officials and will be discussing its demands with hotel managers.
“The problem is all employees in Bahrain face low wages that do not match the rising cost of living,” explained GFBTU administrative secretary Jaffer Khalil.
“And all hotel workers are on wages that are below other sectors.”
He said in Bahrain the average hotel employee takes home a wage of around BD150 and the maximum it will ever rise to is about BD350 to BD400.
However, in Qatar or Dubai hotel employees get a starting salary of about BD250.
“All employees in Bahrain should have a fair salary of between BD300 and BD350,” said Mr Khalil.
“Some hotels in Bahrain have raised the wage to BD200 or BD250, but in my opinion this is still not enough.”
Bahrain Tourism Company chief executive officer Abdulnabi Daylami agreed that wages for hotel employees should be a minimum of BD200 and added that now was the right time to make an adjustment.
He said five star hoteliers would be studying the union’s demands to see if it was suitable to increase salaries.
“In my personal opinion I think they should be no less than BD200 to BD250,” Mr Daylami told the GDN.
“Of course any increase will affect the payroll but this will encourage Bahrainis to join this industry and I am willing to make an increase of between BD200 to BD250.”
The official said the increase should apply to all nationalities. “If we increase salaries we will also get a better calibre and keen staff.” becky@gdn.com.bh
© Gulf Daily News
