The challenges, which are not few, that the tourism industry has to face this year had the opportunity to be discussed yesterday by the leadership and members of PASIXE in meetings with the hotel employees’ unions of SEK and PEO, in their meeting to renew the collective agreement in the hotel industry.
During the meeting, as reported by Phileleftheros, no progress was made on the issue of the collective agreement that expired last December, following the agreement to extend its validity for another year, but the atmosphere yesterday was positive and constructive.
Yesterday’s meeting was the second in a row in direct negotiations between the two sides, but it took place in the absence of STEK, the second employers’ association in the industry, which seems to consider the demands officially submitted by the unions SYXKA-PEO and OUXEKA-SEK as unrealistic even for dialogue.
The issue of whether or not STEK will participate in the negotiations to renew the agreement will be clarified, as we are informed, in the immediate future, since the unions have not been officially informed of any decision by the association and are awaiting its response to the demands they have made.
Regarding the meeting held yesterday at the PASIXE offices with the unions, the information gathered by Phileleftheros states that the employer side did not formally present specific demands in writing on the issue of the contract, but there seem to have been some verbal remarks about the progress of the process, remarks and suggestions that the trade union movement undertook to examine and respond to.
As for the demands of the unions regarding the contract, PEO and SEK are requesting a two-year renewal with salary increases and improvements in other benefits, as a result of the increase in arrivals and tourism revenues last year, for which, however, hoteliers have a different narrative, further linking the issue of the contract to the serious problem the industry faces regarding adequate staffing.
However, the issue of the broader lack of human resources concerns the broader tripartite dialogue between the unions, employers, and the Ministry of Labor with different views and approaches to the issue.
Yesterday, Deputy Minister of Tourism Kostas Koumis also addressed the issue of the workforce in the hotel industry, stating on state radio that the issue is indeed the responsibility of the Ministry of Labor but noted that, as a result of the actions of the Ministry of Tourism, the process of examining applications for foreign staff permits for hotels started earlier compared to other years, specifically from December instead of May as in previous years, and also that the processing time for applications has improved.
However, he hinted that the renewal of the contract in hotels poses a potential challenge for tourism, estimating, however, that in the end common sense will prevail, as he expressed it, and potential labor unrest will be avoided.
