Tourism entrepreneurs on Monday said tourism workers affiliated to Mohan Baidya-led CPN-Maoist recently wrote to embassies of different countries and asked them to advise their respective citizens against using the service of four trekking companies while in Nepal.

Organizing a press meet in the capital, officials of Joint Tourism Coordination Committee (JTCC) - a group of travel trade associations - said tourism workers affiliated to All Nepal Revolutionary Tourism Workers Union (ANRTWU) wrote letters to embassies of the United Kingdom, USA, China, India, Denmark and Germany, among others, requesting them to advise their countrymen against taking service of Himalaya Expeditions Inc, Explore Himalaya Travel & Adventure, Peak Promotion, and Himalaya Guides Nepal.

Earlier on August 19, the union had sent letters to 14 different companies, including the aforementioned ones, urging them to release pending salary and benefits to workers at the earliest. It had also asked the companies not to adopt ´hire and fire´ policy and reinstate all the fired staffers.

Ramesh Dhamala, the coordinator of Joint Tourism Coordination Committee (JTCC) and President of TAAN, speaks to the media at a press conference at Durbar Marg in Kathmandu on Monday. (Dipesh Shrestha/Republica)

Suman Pandey, president of Explore Himalaya Travel & Adventure, said the union has asked his company to hire a worker, who worked for the company on contract basis in 2010/11, on a permanent basis. “Not only that, the union has asked us to pay accrued salary and benefits to the workers since 2010,” Pandey said, adding: “As trekking business is seasonal, we cannot hire all our staff on a permanent basis.”

Ramesh Dhamala, coordinator of JTCC, said staff working for 240 days in any given calendar year should be hired permanently as per the Labor Law. “But workers, who have worked for 240 days in 2-3 years, are demanding that they be hired permanently. The demand is impractical,” he added.

Saying that members of the union have issued life threats to many staff working in those companies, JTCC has written to the Ministry of Home Affairs seeking necessary security arrangements.

Published on: 26 August 2014 | Republica