A hospitality worker’s union has demanded the provincial administration provide complete data regarding the status of land ownership of hotels and villas in Bali, saying it would help them better gauge their working conditions.
Head of Badung tourism worker’s union Putu Satyawira said Tuesday the data would provide better protection for the workers should their employers, who mostly rent the land to build hotels and villas, terminate their lease.
“These workers could be threatened since they are not aware of the situation,” he said, citing a 2008 case in Legian, where almost 100 workers were left unemployed after the hotel’s owner terminated the leasing contract with the land’s owner.
“We don’t want similar cases to happen in the future, so we want the administration to give us complete data on this land ownership status. They need better protection, and it’s better to prevent problems than to rectify them later.”
He said the data would give the workers certainty about their working condition, so they might have a stronger bargaining position when negotiating with their employers.
“We don’t know exactly about this condition, so we want a clear data. We just anticipate should the hotel owners are no longer able to reach agreement with land owners, for example if the land owners increased the rent rates.”
There are around 16,000 tourism workers in Bali, 10,000 of whom are registered as members of the Badung tourism worker’s union. Most of them work in popular tourist spots, including Kuta and Nusa Dua.
Satyawira had conveyed his suggestion to Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika during a monthly public gathering at the provincial council last week.
The governor said the workers should be given better protection, and ordered the manpower agency to discuss the issue with the tourism worker’s union.
Agency head Made Arthadana said hotel owners should clearly outline to workers their terms and conditions of employment if or when their businesses are acquired by other companies.
“The employers should ensure their workers will get equal rights although the ownership of the hotels and villas has changed.”
He said the agency would coordinate with manpower agencies at the regency level about collecting data on land ownership titles.
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