KUWAIT CITY, March 13: The 11/11 Alliance Bloc has denounced the government’s decision to prohibit labor strikes and deal decisively with protesters, reports Al-Seyassah daily.
In a press statement recently, the media officer and spokesperson of the alliance, Fayez Al-Neshwan, confirmed the group followed the Thursday meeting of the Council of Ministers with keen interest, particularly the stern warning against protesting workers. He said the issuance of such a statement is unfortunate in a country that is known for its compassion and fair treatment of people.
Claiming the warning was issued due to successful labor protests at Kuwait Ports Authority (KPA) and many other public agencies, Al-Neshwan slammed the direct warning and threat to take disciplinary action, such as termination, against the concerned workers. He believes HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah will understand that the protests were held to demand fair treatment and employment rights - far from insubordination or obstruction of government’s efforts. He opined the prime minister had earlier resided in Switzerland and France where workers use the same civil method to demand for their rights, so they should allow workers to air their grievances. “This action is civil enough to drive home points, even if it requires disruption of activities for a limited period, while clamping down on such activities is sad, barbaric and oppressive,” he concluded.
In a related development, Al-Rai daily has quoted the International Labor Organization (ILO) as saying that organizing labor strikes is a legitimate right of the workers and it should not be prohibited.
Holding the Civil Service Commission (CSC) responsible for the labor strikes that negatively affected different institutions in the country, ILO pointed out the reason behind these strikes is the lack of job descriptions - the root cause of most work-related problems in Kuwait.
ILO representative in Kuwait Thabet Al-Haroon attributed the problem to the discrepancies between salaries and allowances among institutions and ministries in the country. He urged the CSC to categorize the salaries of employees in different ministries and institutions to avoid labor strikes, which hinder the development of the country and the employees.