INIA staff protest over year-end bonus

Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL) staff at Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) have gone on strike today over the company's uneven distribution of last year’s year-end bonuses.

An airport staff speaking on condition of anonymity told Sun Online that staff are frustrated that the Duty Free employees got larger sums in bonus money than employees at other departments.

A large number of staff are currently gathered in protest in front of MACL’s Department of Human Resources at INIA, but a member of the senior management has yet to address them, said the airport staff.

A document detailing the allocation of bonuses for Duty Free staff obtained by Sun Online shows that the person in charge of the Duty Free shops, an expatriate, received MVR 848,963.52 ($5,5000) in bonuses last year. Foreigners in similar executive positions at the Duty Free also received over MVR 100,000 in bonuses, according to the document.

The airport employee said that the bonus structure was decided by the MACL Board of Directors and that a large number of staff at the Duty Free are expatriates.

Members of MACL senior management were not available for comment at the time of publication.