Such is their distress that some have dubbed the day Black Friday. Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah announced a minimum wage of SR3,000 and one-time payment of two months’ salary for all government employees including those in the military. None of these hikes will benefit all 800,000 Saudis who work in the private sector.

Some private establishments including Saudi Basic Industries Corp., Samba Financial Group, Al-Rajhi Bank, The Saudi Investment Bank, Saudi Electricity Co. Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Saudi Telecom Company, Kingdom Holding Company (KHC), Saudi Real Estate Co.  and Saudi Arabian Mining Co. have granted bonuses to their employees.

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, chairman of the KHC, said: “In response to King Abdullah’s address to the nation and the royal decrees outlined, I have given immediate directions to grant a two-month bonus to Kingdom Holding, Alwaleed Foundation and the Private Office members ... I ask the Saudi private sector to follow suit with this initiative in support of King Abdullah’s royal decrees.”

Yusuf Al-Lahawi, a private-sector employee, said: “I was so shocked when I learned that the salary hikes announced in the royal decree excluded private sector workers like me that I did not feel like going to work on Saturday. To add to our distress, we will surely have to suffer because the prices of all commodities in the market will go up because of the pay hike for government employees.”

He added that the prices of goods have shot up in the past when government workers were given a 15 percent salary increase followed by a 15 percent allowance to cope with the rising costs of living.

Abdullah Al-Mutairy, also in the private sector, said the exclusion of those employed in the private sector whose salaries are already low would add to their sufferings.

“Workers in the private sector are also Saudi citizens like those in the public sector. In fact, when the salaries of those working in government are increased, the burden gets heavier on private-sector workers. We should not forget the sharp rise in the prices of essential commodities and rents when the 15 percent salary hike was given to government employees the last time,” he said. He also stressed the need to fix the minimum wage for Saudis in the private sector.

Mutlaq Al-Ghamdi said that while government employees celebrated in streets, it was a Black Friday for private-sector employees. “I switched off my cell phone as I didn’t want to talk to anyone. My wife and children were weeping,” he said.

Al-Ghamdi raised the issue as to who was responsible for not allowing private-sector employees to benefit from the king’s kind gesture.

Fahd Al-Otaibi, a government servant, accused the Ministry of Labor of discriminating against private-sector workers. “While I get all the generosity of the king, my brothers in the private sector are very unhappy. I call on my brothers to be patient,” he said.

Nasser Al-Buqaili, meanwhile, said all Saudis in the private sector should quit and seek work in the public sector. “The greatest mistake in my life was to accept a job in the private sector — a graveyard for Saudi workers. While government workers have a regular rising pay scale and annual increments, we only get a rise if we are ready to flatter and demean ourselves before our bosses,” said Osama Al-Mastouri.

Saudi national Jaber Abdullah said the private sector would never be an attractive sector for unemployed youth. “They would prefer to remain unemployed and remain on the dole than work in the private sector,” he said.

Some Saudis in the private sector have launched a Facebook campaign — titled We Are Also Saudis — demanding equal treatment.

Faisal Al-Harbi, who earns SR5,000 a month, wrote on Facebook that his landlord is planning to increase the rent to SR22,000 after the announcement of the welfare package.

Another member of the campaign suggested the government should shoulder the nine percent social insurance contribution of Saudis.

Salem Al-Harbi said salaries of private-sector Saudi workers should be raised by 30 percent. He added that companies that refuse to give higher salaries should be forced to meet a higher rate of Saudization and that the minimum wage in private companies should be fixed at SR4,000.

Hamad Al-Qadi, a member of the Shoura Council, called on the private sector to emulate the public sector in providing workers with a bonus payment of two-month salaries. “The government offers support and encouragement to the private sector with the provision of infrastructure and exemption from taxes. So it is the duty of private companies, including banks, to give at least a bonus of two months salary to Saudi workers which will in turn spur them to work more,” Al-Qadi said.