RIYADH: A crowd of over 200 workers who have accused their employer of not paying their wages, not issuing their work/residency permits and harsh treatment descended upon the labor court on Saturday to expedite their case.
The judges decided the case in their favor and ordered the employer, Al-Hasana Contracting Company, to start paying the workers immediately.
“A three-member panel of judges, in a unanimous decision, facilitated an agreement with the company to pay salaries and renew iqamas of the workers,” said R. Muraleedharan, president of the Federation of Kerala Associations in Saudi Arabia (FOKASA).
The death of an Indian worker added fuel to the fire, which led all the workers currently deployed by Al-Hasana at its Dirab project to march to the court in anger, he said.
The workers alleged that Mohammed Muzammil, 38, lost his life because of a lack of food and medicine.
“The body of Muzammil, who died on Nov. 5, is still lying in Somaisi Central Hospital, while the embassy is trying to settle his dues and send the body back to India,” said P. Balachandran, a spokesperson of the Indian Embassy.
Muzammil, who hails from Kaloli village in India’s Uttar Pradesh state, had been working with Al-Hasana for the last six years. Muzammil had been suffering from diabetes and the workers are holding the company accountable for the death.
Muraleedharan said that some minor skirmishes were reported from the court premises after security guards roughed up some of the workers.
A spokesman of Al-Hasana, who only identified himself as Khaled, denied any wrongdoing. Another company official did not answer his cell phone despite several attempts to contact him.
The company has agreed to pay all arrears, including salaries of the workers, on a weekly basis (every Tuesday) until all dues are cleared.
It was also agreed that iqamas would be issued and renewed for all workers, while the workers have been asked to resume duty from today. The company will also consider applications of those employees who wish to go home on exit or exit/re-entry visas once their arrears are paid and their papers are in order. The court is expected to give instructions to the chamber of commerce and industry to unfreeze the company’s accounts, which was blocked earlier.
It was also agreed that the employees could approach the court again if the company violates the terms of the agreement. But two workers — namely Ashrafuddin Mitru and Abdul Nasser — who called Arab News yesterday evening, said there was no change in the company’s attitude.”
The company management, they said, has now “dumped” them at a building near Somaisi Central Hospital in old Riyadh. The building has no water supply. “We are still in trouble,” one of them said.
