JEDDAH, 6 September 2004 — Employees of Jubail’s Chopsticks Restaurant, now closed, are seeking new sponsors as they prepare to confront their employer, Saad Al-Anzi, in the labor court.
Chopsticks’ story first appeared in Arab News on Aug. 9. An employee there told Arab News, “None of us have been paid our full salaries in over three and a half months. The four Bangladeshis who work here have not been paid anything since January. Some of us received SR400 in March and in July but this is a small amount compared to one person’s salary which is supposed to be SR1,450 per month.”
After their case appeared in Arab News, the Philippines Embassy contacted Chopsticks’ employees in order to help them take their case to the labor court. “When the Embassy’s Labor Office and I heard of the Chopsticks workers’ plight, we contacted them immediately. We felt that they had a solid case that needed to be heard by the courts. So we set a court date of Sept. 1,” said Raouf Agao, the labor officer in charge of their case.
Three days before their court appearance, Saad Al-Anzi was approached by his employees in an attempt to find a quick and amicable solution. “He didn’t want to talk or reason. In fact, he threatened to remove us from our housing if we continued with our complaint,” said one of his employees. “We have heard of this and we hope he won’t carry out the threat,” Agao told Arab News.
Arab News contacted Al-Anzi regarding his threat. He said: “I am a God-fearing man. I would never do such a thing. I will do as the court orders me to do.”
When the court date came, Al-Anzi did not appear. “The owner of the restaurant didn’t show up as was required,” Agao told Arab News. “The labor court has ordered that the police or employees find him and make him sign a paper swearing to show up at the next court date or face arrest.”
When Arab News spoke to employees at Chopsticks on Saturday morning, they said: “We don’t know what to do. We went to see him at his house again on Thursday to give him the subpoena and to try to resolve all this, but he was angry because we had complained to the labor court. He warned us that in four days the electricity in our accommodation would be turned off and that we would have to leave. When we tried to reason with him, he said that since we had involved the labor office, he didn’t care to talk to us. He now says that he won’t pay our tickets and that he wants us to give him SR5,000 each for an exit-visa. He owes us money and we shouldn’t have to pay him,” the employees said.
However, by Saturday afternoon, the police had located and spoken to Al-Anzi. The employees said: “He is now agreeing to cooperate and all talk of threats has stopped. He’s agreed to release our sponsorship to whomever we like. As far as the money he owes us, he says he will pay us off bit by bit. This sounds reasonable so we are going to give him a chance,” another Chopsticks employee said.
Talking to Arab News about his failure to appear in court and his threats, Al-Anzi said: “I have released two of them to other sponsors and am working on releasing the others and paying them all their salaries.” However, when Arab News checked with Chopsticks’ employees and the labor case officer at the Philippines Embassy, they both said that no sponsorship changes had taken place.
Al-Anzi, upset by the attention he has attracted, told Arab News, “You have ruined my name and the name of my children. Everyday when I pray, I pray that God brings upon you the same misery you have brought upon me. We will both stand in front of God on Judgment Day.”
Chopsticks’ employees and their families in the Philippines, meanwhile, are hopeful for the first time in many months. “We have not been able to send money home for several months, and as a result, our families have suffered and continue to suffer. Thanks to Arab News and the Filipino Embassy, we are now hopeful,” one employee said.
Still awaiting their chance to appear in the labor court, Chopsticks’ employees remained guarded. “On Wednesday he threatened to have us arrested if we didn’t drop our case. He said he was going to tell the police we sold wine and pornographic films. However, after the police paid him a visit on Saturday, he has promised to release us. So we want to give him every opportunity to do what is right. We don’t want to upset him since he promises to cooperate. He has told us to find other work first and he will release us and pay us our dues when he has the money,” the employees told Arab News. At the same time, Agao warned the workers to be careful and to sign nothing unless it has first been checked by a labor officer or an attorney.
