JEDDAH, 29 December 2002 — The Sri Lankan Labor Ministry has refused to sign the Kingdom’s unified labor contract which took effect on Dec.19, Al-Madinah reported.
Labor unions in the island nation have recommended not to send workers to Saudi Arabia if Riyadh was strict about the unified contract. Sources told the paper that the Saudi mission in Sri Lanka was trying to convince officials in Colombo that the unified contract was for the benefit of all.
Sri Lankan labor unions insist that the unified contract would only benefit Saudis. Sri Lanka described the new contract as a humiliation to the reputation and rights of Sri Lankan workers. They considered the unified contract as “unfair and extortionary.”
Sri Lanka’s recruitment agencies also criticized the terms of the new contract which they say do not guarantee their rights and seek to eliminate middleman. The contract, according to them, guarantees the rights of only Saudi recruitment offices.
Al-Madinah reported that Indonesia also refused to agree to the new contract.
Sri Lanka ranks third in the number of foreign workers in Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile, Sri Lankan Minister of Labor Mahinda Samara arrived in Riyadh yesterday for a few-days visit at the invitation of Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Dr. Ali Al-Namlah. He was received at King Khaled International Airport by Al-Namlah.
