Darj British-era hotel to withdraw `lockout' notice- tripartite meeting convened by the Additional Labour Commissioner,

SNS, SILIGURI. 1 JULY 21 : The management of Windamere Hotel in Darjeeling has agreed to withdraw a "lockout" notice it issued on 21 June. The decision came in a tripartite meeting convened by the Additional Labour Commissioner, North Bengal Zone, Md Rizwan, in Siliguri today.

According to Mr Rizwan, the management has also decided to run the hotel normally, despite some problems amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

It is learnt that Mr Rizwan took initiatives to resolve the matter following instructions from the new state labour minister, Becharam Manna, who visited North Bengal only a few days ago.

"On the other hand, the legal advisor of Windamere Hotel, Joyjit Choudhary, also took initiatives after discussing the matter with the Darjeeling district CITU secretary, Saman Pathak," a source said.

Managing Director of Windamere Hotel Elizabeth Clarke attended the tripartite meeting that lasted over four hours, it is learnt. Another senior department official, Ashish Subba, was also present in the meeting, along with Mr Rizwan.

According to sources, the management will resume normal services in the hotel from tomorrow, and that it has agreed to pay staff members' salary, subject to a minimum slab of Rs 5,000 and pay 50 percent of the total salary from June 2021 till the Covid restrictions remain.

"After the restrictions are lifted, the salary will be raised to 60 percent. Cent percent salary will be paid after the restrictions are withdrawn fully by the government of India and foreign tourists are allowed to visit the country. However, employees have to maintain 100 percent attendance all this while," a source said.

It may be mentioned here that staff members of the hotel, one of the oldest hotels in Darjeeling town, had threatened to stage a hunger strike after the "lockout" notice was issued. The hotel management had cited losses due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Situated at Observatory Hill, Windamere is a heritage property and belongs to the 1840s' colonial-era, with the hotel established there around 1939.

According to a staff member of the hotel, Harish Bharati, there are 45 staff members in the hotel and some of them had been working for 40 years now.