Kathmandu, June 19

Protesting workers of Hotel Hyatt Regency have returned to work from last evening after the Labour and Employment Office stepped in to find a feasible solution to their grievances with the management.

“We received a letter from the labour office in the late afternoon requesting us not to disrupt the business and continue our work,” said Mukti Dahal, president of the hotel’s trade union, adding the workers had hence resumed their work from last evening.

He further said that the labour office has committed to sort out their grievances by holding a meeting between workers and hotel management.

“We haven’t reached any agreement with the management team yet. But the labour office has assured us that the management will address our demands,” he added.

He further said that the hotel management had earlier declared to close the hotel for indefinite period without informing them.

“We only wanted the management to provide us the benefits as mentioned in our contract,” he said, adding, “Our intention was never to force the hotel to close and inconvenience the patrons.”

Although the workers have resumed their duties, the hotel will not take any reservation for a few more days, informed Govinda Pariyar, head of Human Resource Department of Hyatt. “Until we receive assurances from the workers that similar activities will not be repeated again, we will not open new reservations,” he said.

“Ours is an international chain hotel, so we have to maintain our image among our guests by assuring them of peace and security.”

As per Pariyar, the hotel received a letter from the labour office this morning only.

“Prior to this, we sent notices to the workers thrice, requesting them to get back to work.

However, they were adamant about having their demands met first,” he said.

He further claimed that no facilities of workers have been cut and they have been receiving facilities as per the Labour Act.

Meanwhile, Pariyar claimed that the management team did not halt the hotel service.

However, the management team itself had sent a letter to Nepal Stock Exchange Ltd informing that they were closing the hotel for indefinite period.

The hotel had also announced on Monday that it was temporarily ceasing operations and not accepting any bookings until the dispute with the trade union was sorted out.

Currently, there are around 400 workers employed in Hyatt Regency.

With 280 rooms, including seven suites and 35 regency club rooms, the Hyatt Regency has been serving guests in Nepal since 2000.