The five-star Hyatt Regency hotel in Bouddha, which was closed after the Gen-G protests, has laid off workers, citing the inability to pay its permanent, contract and salaried employees their monthly salaries. With this decision, the livelihood of more than 500 workers who have been working for decades is in danger, trade unions have said.

According to them, the hotel employs 148 permanent employees, about 300 on contract and 60 on wage basis.

‘Many of us have been working here since the establishment of the hotel. After 25 years of service, the decision was made to send us home suddenly. After the Gen-G movement, the government has announced concessional loans and introduced policies in the interest of employees. However, this hotel, in which the Government of Nepal also has investment. This establishment decided to evict us unjustly,’ said a labor leader close to the Nepal Trade Union Congress.

According to him, the decision has angered all the trade unions working there. ‘We have demanded that employment be secured by paying the minimum wage during the reconstruction period and that it be continued after the hotel is reopened,’ he added, ‘but the management is not listening.’

During the protest held on Bhadra 24, the second day of the Gen-G movement, a criminal group entered the hotel and vandalized, looted and even set it on fire. Since then, all services at the hotel have been closed. An Indian female tourist died in the hospital after jumping from the fourth floor of the hotel.

The hotel management had issued a notice last month stating that the reconstruction would take at least a year. In that notice, the hotel would not operate during the reconstruction period and employees were asked to temporarily stay away.

However, the notice was strongly opposed by labor unions active in the hotel, including the Nepal Tourism and Hotel Workers' Association, Nepal Independent Hotel Casino and Restaurant Workers' Association, and others.

The hotel's general manager, Ashish Kumar, said in a statement, "The hotel renovation work has begun. For this, it is necessary to raise financial resources and manage expenses. Since it is not possible to employ workers in the hotel that is not operating during this period, the reduction in labor has been implemented from November 22, 2082, in accordance with the Labor Act 2074."