The dispute between houseboat owners and unions representing employees over pay structure revision took an ugly turn on Monday when unidentified miscreants attacked the office of the All Kerala Houseboat Owners Associations at Punnamada here. The owners’ associations have put the blame on the employees’ union. The incident took place early Monday. The attackers destroyed windowpanes, chairs and other equipment in the office. The police have registered a case and are examining the CCTV footage.
Houseboat owners staged a protest rally from Punnamada to Municipal Town Square.
Meanwhile, a section of houseboat owners under the aegis of a coordination committee have launched an indefinite strike demanding an amicable settlement to the issue of renewing the contract of employees.
K. Vijayan, secretary, All Kerala Houseboats Owners Associations, said boats owned by members of five owner outfits had stopped operation.
Unions representing houseboat employees and the owners have been at loggerheads for some time now. The employees had initially demanded a basic salary of ₹15,000 and daily allowance of ₹374. After several rounds of talks and threat of an indefinite strike from May 10, the unions, on May 9, had reached an agreement with a section of houseboat owners on pay hike.
As per the agreement with the Kerala Houseboat Owners Federation, an employee was entitled to a salary of ₹12,000, an increase of ₹1,600 from the present ₹10,400. The daily allowance was increased to ₹290, from the present ₹250. However, a large number of houseboat owners are yet to accept the pay increase. However, five owner outfits with around 600 boats are yet to accept the pay increase. The unions representing employees said that they had already reached an agreement on pay hike and the decision was applicable to all houseboat owners. Meanwhile, Tourism Department officials said the houseboat strike had adversely affected the tourism sector.
