Labour union Peo on Friday said hoteliers’ demands for the easing of rules regarding the employment of staff from third countries are unfair and misguided.

Last month, hoteliers urged the government to take immediate action to solve all issues related to staff shortages in hotels, adding that, so far, hoteliers’ complaints had fallen on deaf ears.

They especially insisted on the employment of staff from third countries.

Peo, however, slammed the hoteliers for their demands, through a strong-worded statement on Friday.

“Their intention to facilitate the employment of third country nationals proves that their aim is further deregulation of the sector, which will allow them to offer reduced salaries to workers and to overlook basic working conditions,” the union said.

“We are calling on hoteliers’ associations to respect the collective agreement they also signed and to bring back to work all the employees they had to let go after 2019,” Peo said referring to those who were left without a job because of the pandemic.

The statement also added that offering employment in line with the existing collective agreements, which respect workers and offer opportunities for continuous training of employees, is the basis of a stable workplace.