Hotel employees’ fate now hangs in balance

KOLKATA: The sudden demise of Bharat Hotels supremo Lalit Suri has rendered uncertain the fate of some 130 employees of the city’s Great Eastern Hotel who are supposed to be absorbed by the new management.

There also appears to be some scepticism that the hotel may not be operational by the scheduled June ’07 deadline fixed by the late Mr Sure. Talking to ET, Atiar Rahman, general secretary, Intuc-affiliated, Great Eastern Hotels Staff & Workers Union said: “When the deal was signed with Mr Suri, it was assured by the state commerce and industry minister Nirupam Sen that 130 employees who were below the age of 45 will be absorbed by the company. But with the death of Mr Suri, we are not certain about their fate.”

Mr Rahman and his union members had opposed the state government’s bid to privatise Great Eastern Hotel since 1993-94, when the French hotel chain Accor Pacific had evinced an interest to buy it from the West Bengal government. “We had fought tooth and nail to stop privatisation. Accor backed out from the deal.

But unfortunately, the state government did not take any initiatives to revive the hotel. At the union level, we realised that if we stop privatisation, then the hotel will be closed down. Which is why, in ’04, we decided to allow privatisation of the hotel,” he said.

In fact, the Intuc-affiliated union, which had the maximum number of members, along with other unions, held protracted negotiation with Bharat Hotels, after it was selected as the final bidder for Great Eastern by the state government. The negotiations continued till November 30, ’05. “The company offered a good separation package and the employees opted for it. We were also confident that good times lay ahead of Great Eastern,” recounted Mr Rahman. But Mr Suri’s sudden demise has brought a pall of gloom.

In his absence, the hotel employees seem in the dark whether the Great Eastern will be operational by June ’07. “Work has not begun yet. It takes at least 18 months to remodel and restart a hotel. We feel the hotel can be operational only by ’08, provided the Suri family expedites the process,” he asserted.