RIYADH, 12 August — Saudi workers at British Aerospace (BAE) around the Kingdom have welcomed their company’s latest decision to withdraw its plans to modify their contracts, according to a statement issued by the Labor Committee of Saudi Workers at BAE Systems .
"We thank Prince Sultan, second deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, for his support for the rights of Saudi employees working in the company and for the ministry’s order to protect the salaries and other rights of the employees and continue with the contracts without any modifications," said the statement issued yesterday.
It was the third statement issued by the committee since it was established last month.
Appreciating Prince Sultan’s stand on the issue, the statement said: "It reflects the government’s constant concern for the rights and privileges of Saudi workers."
Welcoming BAE’s decision to withdraw its plans to change their contracts, it said: "It is a positive step from the company to withdraw and go back in the right direction."
The statement, however, raised many concerns of the Saudi workers and voiced the staff’s reservations regarding the last statement issued by the company. "We want to hold a meeting with the company to address all our questions," the workers said in the statement. The most important issue is the company’s neglect of Saudi workers whose contracts had been terminated from BAE because they had refused to sign the contracts the company has since withdrawn."
The Preliminary Committee ruled against the dismissal of the employees stating that the committee could not find any violation on the part of the employees to deserve the arbitrary cancellation of their contracts and dismissal from the company. The committee also observed that the refusal to sign a new contract with an unfavorable time clause did not amount to a violation deserving dismissal from their jobs, the statement said.
"We regret that the company has recently appealed to the Higher Arbitration Committee against the verdict of the Preliminary Committee to stop actions against the employees," they said and called on the company to reinstate them as their dismissals were based on a move the company has since withdrawn.
The second question raised by the workers is the company’s neglect of the yearly allowance of Saudi employees the company has stopped. "Only Saudis at the company are deprived of this right," the statement said.
"We, as Saudi employees, are not against our company but rather against the latest contract measures that were against the Saudi labor law and were enforced only on Saudi employees," the statement concluded.
