Shinhwa World Casino urged to halt redundancy programme
The Shinhwa World Casino has been accused by the Jeju Tourism Service Union of pushing its workers into voluntary redundancy.
South Korea.- The Shinhwa World Casino has launched a voluntary redundancy programme, a move that has been highly criticised by unions.
According to the casino operator, the measure was taken as the Jeju casino industry faces an economic crisis due to the lack of tourists amid Covid-19 countermeasures. However, members of the Jeju Tourism Service Union stated the casino operator was forcing its employees to accept the company’s offer.
The union said the company should propose measures, for example, wage cuts, and the withdrawal of its rebuilding plan. It has requested mediation from Jeju and the Jeju Provincial Council.
The union said: “All workers accepted paid and unpaid leave and worked without receiving normal wages for over a year. We waited together with a heart to overcome.
“However, (management) is driving the workers who have endured hard work to the streets. People with management rights should be held responsible for management failures, so why are they trying to take away workers’ rice bowls?”
The foreigner-only casinos operating on Jeju island in South Korea are Jeju Shinhwa World, Paradise Casino and the Jeju Dream Tower casino. The casinos are struggling owing to the lack of tourism due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
South Korea’s foreigner-only casino operators depend almost entirely on the arrival of tourists. During the first two months of 2021 combined, tourist arrivals to South Korea were down 93.7 per cent.
