Staff at U.N. floating hotel strikes for better pay (Deutsche Presse-Agentur, February 13, 2000) Timorese workers at a floating hotel that houses United Nations staff in Dili staged a daylong strike for better pay and working conditions, workers said Friday. The job action at the Hotel Olympia ended Friday with a new contract. The hotel, which rents out rooms for more than 160 dollars a night to take advantage of a chronic housing shortage in Dili, has been paying its Timorese workforce only 3 U.S. dollars a day for a 12-hour day, employees said. On Thursday, the hotel made history as the site of the first strike since East Timor was liberated from Indonesian occupation. "We are demanding a minimum wage of 10 Australian dollars (6 U.S. dollars) a day for a nine-hour day, that includes a one-hour lunch break. We also want the two managers be replaced by more sensitive people," one of the strike leaders, Domingos Da Silva, told DPA on Friday. The owner's representative, Wouter Lap, on Friday said an agreement had been reached. "Two new managers will be brought in, the owners are prepared to increase the rate per day up to 9 (Australian) dollars, and we will reach an agreement that will lead to much better relations in the future," he said. The new deal has been accepted by hotel staff ... An estimated 70 percent of all housing in the capital, Dili, was destroyed by the orgy of violence unleashed last year by pro-Indonesian militias after East Timor residents overwhelmingly voted for independence from Jakarta. Many Timorese have argued that the U.N. should have launched a crash programme to help local families accommodate international staff by funding immediate refurbishing and renovation, rather than providing lucrative contracts to international corporations. *** For much more on East Timor, from a socialist perspective, visit our site: http://easttimor.alphalink.com.au/ -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
