RIYADH, 7 August — BAE Systems yesterday announced that it has decided to withdraw its latest moves to change the contracts of Saudi employees.
“We have received orders not to change the salaries of Saudi workers and to continue with their contracts without any modifications,” said a press statement issued by BAE.
“The company will go back to its previous employment agreements and be paying the employees through local banks”, added the statement which made it clear that BAE Systems is not a private company but rather a main contractor working for the Ministry of Defense according to an agreement with the British government.
“We are only carrying out the instructions of the Saudi Ministry of Defense,” the statement pointed out. “If there are any additional requirements not included within the signed contracts, the Saudi government should agree on them,” said the statement, adding that the Saudi government is the one responsible for bearing any resulting financial burdens and any modification in the contracts is the responsibility of the Ministry of Defense.
“We assure all contracted workers that their current contracts will not be changed and their salaries will not be reduced,” the statement concluded, thanking Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd and Prince Abdullah, the regent, and Prince Sultan, second deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation for their constant concern for Saudi citizens.
The new statement comes after the company’s Saudi staff members had launched a series of lawsuits in a number of Saudi cities in a dispute over contract modifications.
The Saudi employees in the company had complained against the management’s plans to violate their rights when they were asked to fill out a form titled “Continuation of Request with Yamamah Project” and sign it.
Signing the form gave BAE Systems the right to start a new contract under new terms including salary changes from Jan.1, 2003. The form threatened that any worker who did not sign the form would be terminated effective Jan. 1, 2002.
The Ministry of Defense and Aviation has assured that the rights and privileges of the Saudi employees in BAE Systems will be protected. The ministry made the statement following media reports about the company’s move to convert the work contracts of the Saudi employees to annual contracts with new conditions adversely affecting them.
The two labor offices in Riyadh and Dammam will rule on Aug. 19 and 20 respectively in two lawsuits filed by more than 1,000 Saudi workers of the company.
