THIS newspaper reported a couple of days ago about 160 workers refusing to continue work at Al-Badrah biscuit factories due to the non-payment of their salaries for the last 13 months. The reason given by the company for the delay in payment of the wages was that there was a drop in demand for their products because of the school holidays. The workers also complained about poor living conditions, lack of health care and non-renewal of iqamas.

The workers faced a similar crisis with the company last year. Al-Badrah was ordered by the Labor Office to pay the back wages in installments. The company’s method of accomplishing this was to issue dud checks, which set off a new round of discontent.

It is really quite shocking that a respected company can manage to delay the salaries of their employees for such a long time. There is no excuse for this. It is horrendous that the company has been selling a food product to the community, which we all assumed was produced in a decent environment. Only now we discover that we have been eating biscuits made from the sweat of our poor brothers.

Respectable Mr. Mustafa Sabri, a legal consultant, in discussing the situation stated that the workers should not have stopped working and that it was in their interest to produce. He did say that the company had no excuses for non-payment of the workers’ wages. I felt that Mr. Sabri’s comments were those of a man on the fence. While we are certain that the company has no right to delay non-payment for 13 months, the question at this moment is: what exactly should the workers do?

All employers should be made to realize that people work so that they can earn enough money to feed and clothe themselves and their families. When a man is living hand to mouth because he earns a pittance, a slight delay in payment of wages is hardly acceptable, let alone a period now stretching more than a year. When a company that is well-established engages in such a practice, there are certain questions that should be raised to the owners. How do you expect these poor people to live and produce? What do you think is happening to them physically and mentally? Are they going to be loyal? We should not forget that loyalty has limits. What negative effects will this have on society? Many of these workers are from abroad. What kind of image does this give to the Kingdom and how will they speak of this proud nation when they return to their homelands? These are serious questions that need to be answered — and answered truthfully.

Last year I was told of a maintenance company in the Eastern Region which hadn’t paid its workers for six months. The men, mostly from Bangladesh, were earning only SR300 per month. They were living in misery in housing that would not have been fit for livestock. I was terribly saddened to learn that these Muslims were being fed and clothed only through the benevolence of expatriates living on a nearby compound. When I inquired why the wages had been delayed, I was told that as the maintenance company had not been paid the recent installments on its contract it was not willing to pay for the work done for the client. I wondered how the owner of the company could sleep at night.

Unfortunately, these are not isolated cases. There have been others who have withheld wages. It is very heartening to note that the Labor Office took action in the previous incidents and favored the workers. Forming committees is acceptable and may serve some purpose, but it is also a time-consuming exercise and while men discuss, families are forced to   beg for their daily bread. I believe that companies should have emergency funds ready for a slowdown in sales. They should also make arrangements with banks for overdraft facilities to be used in such circumstances.

Workers in factories and shops are not the only ones facing such problems. Household servants are also often deprived of their wages. Once I saw a man crying on the street. I stopped and asked him why. He said he was working as a driver and had not been paid his salary for nine months. His daughter was getting married and he had no money for the wedding arrangements. It was heartbreaking to see a grown up man crying so loudly.

Some employers refuse to pay their maids even one riyal until the completion of the contract. Imagine the stress on the woman as she tries to explain to her family why she cannot send them any money and yet she must wake up every morning and do her best for an employer who doesn’t have a care for her needs. Some of these women mortgage their homes to the banks so they can afford the recruitment fees to come to the Kingdom. When they cannot send money home not only do their children go hungry, but in a matter of months the bank takes the house and the family is put out on the street. I have heard employers justify this practice as a way of controlling their domestic help, but it sickens me.

Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, said: “Pay the laborer before the sweat on his brow dries.” We should take a lesson from the words of our beloved Prophet. —[email protected]