KUWAIT CITY, March 2: Nearly 300 Egyptian employees of a cleaning and contracting company staged a protest inside the Ministries Complex premises on Tuesday morning demanding payment of their salaries. The workers haven’t been paid since the last eight months.
The employees embarked on public protest after all legal entreaties and procedures failed to yield result. The last of such actions was the complaint lodged to the Social Affairs and Labor Ministry’s Undersecretary Mansour Al-Mansour, wherein they urged him to urgently intervene to ensure payment of their unpaid salaries.
One of the protesters, who is posted at Hawalli Central Communications Exchange, Safwat Rafiq disclosed that the company used to promise prompt payment of their entitlements but never fulfilled its promises. He said the employees are breadwinners of their respective families and they need money to take care of their family members. He berated officials of the company for their apathy towards the plight of the employees. “We are living as if we are not in Kuwait, which is a blessed country,” the angry worker said.
A database specialist Al-Tantawi Hassan said the company has been threatening employees with termination and deportation for demanding their rights. He regretted that employees could not afford daily meals and as such, had to resort to borrowing from friends. “When will Al-Abraj Company stop maltreating staff?” he asked.
Another protester Abdul-Qayyum Abdul-Samad complained that employees demanded their rights several times but company officials never allowed them to transfer to other companies. He revealed that the company put a condition that anybody interested in transfer should pay KD 350 and sign a paper that he relinquished all his entitlements. He added that the property owner of the company accommodation has given them an ultimatum until Sunday to pay rent, failure of which will lead to their eviction. “The contract we signed with the company stipulates that accommodation is responsibility of the company,” stressed Abdul-Samad.      
The country has witnessed several similar protests within the last few months.