House boat owners, workers reach wage agreement

The house boat sector is back on its sails following agreement between owners and workers’ union over the wage hike at the talks held at the Chamber of Tourism Minister, A.P. Anilkumar in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday.

Nearly 1,300 house boats operating in Alappuzha and nearby Kumarakom in Kottayam district will operate from Saturday morning after a five-day stir called by owners’ organisations. The stir was called after workers’ unions, including the CITU-affiliated Kerala House Boat and Resort Workers Union (KHBRWU) representing nearly 60 per cent of the workers in the sector, demanded a hike from its monthly salary of Rs 4500 and a daily batta of Rs 125.

All Kerala House Boat Owners Association general secretary N.Sreekumar told

The Hindu from Thiruvananthapuram after the meeting that it was agreed to have an agreement for hike of wages effective from July 1 for two years. The new monthly salary for workers will be Rs 6850 and new daily batta will be Rs 170. The new salary will be paid from August.

Apart from the association, the representatives of other boat owners organisations, All Kerala House Boat Owners and Operators Association and All Kerala House Boat Owners and Operators Samithy attended the meeting.

The representatives of workers’ unions, KHBRWU president, C.K. Sadasivan, MLA of CITU, House Boat Workers Congress (INTUC) State president, Nasser M.Pyngamadom and Tourism and House Boat Mazdoor Sangh, Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) general secretary, K. Pradeep attended the meeting.