KUWAIT CITY, 25 September 2005 — Recent strikes by foreign workers in the Gulf demanding unpaid wages and better conditions have highlighted the need for effective legal measures to ease their plight, officials and rights activists say.
“The labor strikes are the warning bell that the International Labor Organization (ILO) had long ago cautioned Gulf countries from,” ILO country representative in Kuwait, Thabet Al-Harun, said. “It’s time Gulf states understood that it is no longer acceptable to adopt anti-labor policies. ... They must issue labor legislation that is in line with international standards and human rights,” he said.
Hundreds of Asian workers demonstrated in luxury-laden Dubai on Monday, thousands have staged a series of protests in Kuwait over the past few months and 600 construction workers went on strike in Qatar in August.
In all cases, the poorly paid laborers complained of not receiving their salaries for several months and of poor living conditions.
The governments in those states stepped in to force employers to pay, but Ali Al-Baghli, board member of Kuwait’s Human Rights Association, believes the issue requires fundamental solutions.
“We need an effective legal framework to govern employer-employee relations to protect workers from unconscionable businessmen. ... We must use the language of force to compel them,” Baghli said.
The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council is home to a population of 35 million, about 13 million, or 37 percent, of whom are foreign workers and their families.
Foreign workers in the Gulf remit some $30 billion to their home countries annually, although more than half of them draw under $400 in monthly wages.
The “sponsor” system, a regulation that restricts the workers’ movements and puts them at the mercy of their employers, is cited as the main cause for their plight. It is adopted by all Gulf states and has been blasted by human rights bodies as akin to slavery.
“The ILO rejects the sponsor system and has been urging Gulf states to abolish it in favor of legislation that preserves workers’ rights and takes into consideration the employers’ interests,” Harun said.
Under it, employers have the right to terminate their foreign staff and prevent them from seeking jobs in the same country unless they fulfill a set of tough conditions. This makes workers the underdogs in labor disputes.
“We must change the sponsor system in a way to prevent employers from taking oppressive measures against their foreign staff. We must allow foreign workers to change jobs freely,” Baghli said.
Under pressure from human rights watchdogs and international organizations, Gulf countries have lately moved toward introducing legal changes. “Gulf states have informed the ILO they are in the process of improving the conditions of foreign workers by introducing new legislation consistent with international standards,” Harun said.
“They are considering introducing a minimum wage ... are contemplating substitutes for the sponsor system and plan to expand the role of trade unions,” he said.
Bahrain and Kuwait have trade unions for nationals, which expatriates can join as non-voting members. The Saudi Shoura Council has issued a law allowing “workers committees,” Harun said, while Oman has told the ILO it plans to allow trade unions.
“The plight of foreign workers is severely hurting the image of Gulf countries. We were shocked to see workers constructing those nice buildings in cosmopolitan Dubai are maltreated ... It’s time we took swift action,” Baghli said.
