MANILA, Philippines – Even though the retrenched workers of the closed five-star hotel Sofitel Philippine Plaza won in their fight for job security, most of them ended up accepting severance pay because of the need to provide for their families. According to a statement released on Thursday, August 15, from Solidarity Center Philippines, a non-profit organization supporting the unions of Sofitel, most union members have already accepted severance pay “due to intrusive pressure from management and their families’ financial needs.” Philippine Plaza Holdings Inc.
President Esteban Peña Sy said that 80% of its employees have already availed of the separation package as of Friday, August 16. The hotel closed on July 1, with management pointing to safety concerns in the decades-old building as the reason. Hotel structures like elevators, escalators, boilers, and transformers were beyond repair, and there were several incidents of small fires and gas leak.
In the weeks leading up to the closure, the two Sofitel unions demanded management to let them retain their employment and unions, as it appeared to them that the hotel would eventually reopen after renovations. Sofitel filed for permanent closure, but still eventually gave in to the workers’ demands in a settlement on July 2 – that workers who did not accept the separation package could come back to their jobs in the event the hotel reopens. In a Friday call with Rappler, Peña Sy said that he “cannot understand�.