Dy. Minister settles two year old CHC labour dispute in one week

Shirajiv Sirimane

SETTLEMENT: The long drawn issue between the employees of the Ceylon Hotels Corporation (CHC) and the Galle Face Hotels Group (GFH) with regard to the Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) was settled yesterday with the intervention of the Deputy Minister of Tourism Faiser Mustafa.

The Minister said that the GFH has consented to pay nearly Rs. 500 million to employees under the VRS system. It is expected that nearly 300 employees would be benefited by the settlement arrived at.

The Minister has also promised to obtain a gazette notification from Parliament enabling the scheme to effect soon. CEO CHC, Anura Lokuhetti said that one reason for the delay in implementing this scheme was because it was not tabled in the parliament.

This Scheme will be effected after Ceylon Hotels Corporation Act is repealed in Parliament and gazetted. the pragmatic role played by the Deputy Minister of Tourism Faiser Mustafa with the Ministry’s Secretary, M. Leelaratne should be appreciated said. Lakshman Samarasinghe, Chairman, CHC.