Unions protest at exclusion of local workers due to use of cheap migrant labour in hotels

Tensions mounted in the hotel industry during April 2007 arising from workers’ concerns regarding employment practices in relation to migrant labour. The workers fear that the poorer terms and conditions of employment for migrant workers, compared with those provided for under the industry-wide collective agreement, will result in a gradual exclusion of the local labour force.

In recent months, hotel workers have expressed strong concerns about the use of migrant workers as a source of cheap labour. On the one hand, such practices violate the terms and conditions of employment in the industry; on the other hand, there are fears that they may result in a gradual exclusion of the local labour force – an issue that has also been of concern for Cypriot trade unions in the past (CY0407102F). On 12 April 2007, tensions escalated when 60 employees of Tsokkos Hotels, one of the largest hotel groups in Cyprus, held a protest picket. The employees concerned, who are among the company’s permanent staff and whose employment was suspended during the winter period (CY0311102N), were protesting against the company’s refusal to rehire them immediately on 1 April 2007 – the date marking the beginning of the summer period.

Trade union concerns

In a joint statement, the Federation of Hotel Industry Employees (Ομοσπονδία Υπαλλήλων Ξενοδοχειακής Βιομηχανίας, ΟUXΕΒ), affiliated to the Cyprus Workers’ Confederation (Συνομοσπονδία Εργαζομένων Κύπρου, SΕΚ), and the Union of Hotel and Recreational Establishment Employees of Cyprus (Συντεχνία Υπαλλήλων Ξενοδοχείων και Κέντρων Αναψυχής Κύπρου, SΥXΚΑ), affiliated to the Pancyprian Federation of Labour (Παγκύπρια Εργατική Ομοσπονδία, PΕΟ), pointed out that many of the company’s hotels had reopened during March 2007, and that these could have absorbed all of the 60 employees. Instead, despite constant warnings from ΟUXΕΒ and SYXKA that they would not accept special arrangements for the re-engagement of permanent staff, the company preferred to hire foreign labour; this practice was also used extensively during the winter period to meet the needs of the hotels that remained open.

More specifically, data provided by ΟUXΕΒ and SYXKA show that, during March 2007, the company employed 220 employees from other EU Member States, mostly from Slovakia and Poland, but only 80 Cypriots. However, the employees’ main complaint was not against the foreign workers themselves, but against their exploitation as cheap labour under terms and conditions less favourable than those provided for under the hotel industry’s collective agreement (CY0609019I). The two unions point out that this was not the only instance of such practices by Tsokkos Hotels; rather, it represented an increasing trend which was giving rise to two classes of employees and a gradual exclusion of the local labour force. Both unions referred to a report by the European Commission, which confirms their concerns. In particular, the report notes a gradual increase in the number of migrant workers at the expense of Cypriot workers. This has, in turn, negatively impacted on the prospects and terms and conditions of employment of the domestic labour force, particularly in certain sectors of the economy such as tourism and catering, where seasonal unemployment is high.

Company position

Both unions have pointed out that, apart from the central demand of the 60 employees for their immediate re-engagement, they are also requesting that the staff affected be paid retroactively from 1 April 2007. However, the company argues that the protest was unjustified, and that the trade unions were aware that only eight of the company’s 26 hotels were open and operating at low capacity, while the other 18 remained closed. Moreover, since the tourist season has shortened somewhat, insofar as April is now deemed by Europe’s main travel agents as being within the winter period, the company maintains that it is making efforts to operate more tourist hotels in May, thus employing all permanent staff; moreover, it is hopeful that the social partners will enter into constructive dialogue aimed at resolving this problem.

Eva Soumeli, Cyprus Labour Institute (INEK/PEO)