Nepal Dairy, Hot Breads and Bakery Café shut down
FEB 08 - More than 26 fast food restaurants and cafes across the Kathmandu Valley operated by Nepal Dairy, Hot Breads and The Bakery Cafe were forced to shut down Sunday by Maoist-affiliated workers demanding a hike in their service allowance and salaries and resolution of other labour-related issues.
The management of these eateries said that they were forced to close as the workers had been disrupting service.
However, the All Nepal Hotel and Restaurant Workers Union said that closing the restaurants and cafes without any prior information was against the Labour Act.
The restaurant owners said they had become unable to operate due to the frequent disruptions by the workers which had been continuing for some weeks.
The workers had stopped service for six hours a day since Feb. 4. The stoppage increased to eight hours a day from Feb. 6, said a member of the management of Nepal Dairy who declined to be identified.
The restaurant owners said that the workers had violated an agreement signed with them which said that there would be no wage hikes for three years. "The agreement is two years old, and demanding a raise at this point is against the norms," the source said.
However, the union said that the terms of the collective bargaining agreement signed with the three restaurants and bakery cafes had already completed its three years.
General secretary of the union Prakash Shrestha said that the hotel and restaurant workers had been demanding a 40 percent salary hike and a 100 percent increase in the dearness allowances for the last seven months. All the star hotels and about 70 percent of the restaurants have addressed the issue, said Shrestha. Union leaders said that Nepal Dairy, Hot Breads and the Bakery Café had ignored the workers' demands; and that as a result, the workers unit committee had launched a peaceful agitation.
"Disputes can be resolved through discussions, but the owners are reluctant to come to the table," Shrestha added.
He said that if they did not heed the demand of the workers, they would be compelled to shut down their corporate houses.
We are not concerned about the owners closing or opening their businesses, but the demands of the workers should be addressed, said Ganesh Regmi, general secretary of Maoist-affiliated All Nepal Trade Union.
"As part of pressurising them, the workers have been organising sporadic agitations," he said. "We will initiate our agitation programme as per the restaurant owners' move," he said.
On Nov. 28. star hotel workers had demanded a 40 percent salary hike and a 100 percent increase in the dearness allowance. About 570 workers are employed in these three restaurant and café chains. The closure means daily losses of Rs. 200,000 to Rs. 400,000 to each outlet.
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