He was the happiest when his daughter got married. But, for Unnikrishnan, that joy did not last long. The mounting debts borrowed for the wedding coupled with unemployment drove the 50-year-old to suicide.
Unnikrishnan, a barman at a hotel at Kodungalloor, was among the five persons who took their lives reportedly after being left jobless following the closure of 418 bars in the State since April. With Onam round the corner, trade union leaders fear a surge in such incidents.
“Out of the 183 bars in the district, 108 remain closed rendering close to 5,500 workers jobless. After waiting for a couple of months, majority of them are now in the lookout for alternative jobs, including casual labour. But the income from their new jobs is no match to what they earned at bars where they got a salary of about Rs. 10,000 and about Rs. 3,000 as tips,” K.A. Vidyanandan, district joint secretary of the recently formed Bar Hotel Employees Association (BHEA) affiliated to CITU, told The Hindu.
BHEA State general secretary C.K. Manisankar said that while it was not the Union’s argument that the closed bars be reopened, the State government should not turn a blind eye to the plight of workers.
“The government should take immediate steps to rehabilitate them, and also look Kerala State Beverages Corporation Limited (Bevco) outlets working without proper staff pattern,” he said.
Mr. Manisankar, however, was surprised at the continuing reluctance of bar employees to join the Union despite their desperate condition even after sustained canvassing by the members of the district units of the CITU-affiliated Kerala Samsthana Videsha Madya Vyvasaya Thozhilali Union meant for Bevco staff. Maybe they fear a backlash from bar managements if and when bars reopen, he said.
P.R. Surjith, Paravur area secretary, Liquor and Hotel Employees Association, said that the largely unorganised nature of the workforce emboldened the government to postpone a decision on them. “Unlike the workforce at star hotels, majority of these workers are uneducated making it that much tougher for them to find a decent alternative livelihood,” he said.
