Al-Saleh urges oil workers to uphold ‘public interest’ – Strike action on

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A general view taken on April 16 shows the Shuaiba oil refi nery south of Kuwait City. Kuwaiti oil workers plan to go on strike on April 17 in protest to what they call the government’s plan to cut their annual benefi ts and bonuses. (AFP)
A general view taken on April 16 shows the Shuaiba oil refi nery south of Kuwait City. Kuwaiti oil workers plan to go on strike on April 17 in protest to what they call the government’s plan to cut their annual benefi ts and bonuses. (AFP)

KUWAIT CITY, April 16: Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance and Acting Oil Minister Anas Al-Saleh has urged oil workers’ unions to uphold public interests, rationality and wisdom to avoid causing damage to the Kuwaiti oil sector, and consequently pushing the country into disputes that could harm its reputation, both at home and overseas.

The critical stage the Kuwaiti economy is experiencing due to the falls of oil prices prompts unity and working according to a joint vision to keep away causing any harm to the oil sector and the development process it is going through, Al-Saleh said in a statement on Saturday.

The Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), and its affiliate companies, reiterates preservation of workers’ rights, wages, bonuses and indemnities, and the way the latter is calculated, as well as other advantages they have gained through labor agreements and the arbitration authority, the minister added.

The KPC and subsidiaries still call on the oil trade unions to take part in a proposed joint commission, which is one of workers’ demands, to work on a conciliatory solution and overcome that critical stage, Al-Saleh noted.

Challenges
He pointed to the enormous challenges facing the Kuwaiti economy, which prompted the state to take serious steps to counter them, in all sectors, in addition to crystalizing an obvious economic vision to manage the oil wealth, the backbone of the national economy.

He added that the KPC and its subsidiaries had frozen the suggested retrenchment initiatives during the negotiation period as per Articles 131 and 132 of Law 6/2010, just out of their responsibility for the size of risks and challenges the oil sector is facing. The minister concluded by calling for necessarily maintaining the oil sector, which is the backbone of Kuwait’s national economy and setting top priority to the country’s higher interest.

Meanwhile, the oil workers union Saturday turned down an appeal from Kuwait’s acting oil minister to call off a total strike in protest at alleged pay cuts and to accept negotiations. Anas Al-Saleh, in a statement cited by the official KUNA news agency, urged workers to “give priority to the public interest and resort to reason and wisdom by sitting at the negotiations table.”

The union, however, immediately rejected the minister’s call as offering nothing new and said the strike will go ahead from Sunday morning. “The strike will go ahead as planned,” union chief Saif Al-Qahtani told AFP, holding oil companies and the minister responsible for the strike and the potential losses from it.

The minister assured the workers there will be no reduction to their salaries and other benefits. Oil syndicates and labor unions are determined to stage their strike on Sunday, April 16 and have refused all proposed initiatives for settling the conflict in the oil sector, reliable sources say. They revealed that there are demands being made to confront the strike as the use of threats and violence will not be encouraged, affi rming that the Strategic Alternative to Salary Scale will be applied on all public sectors.

The sources insisted that the strike is illegal as per Article 132 of the Labor Law, indicating that the subsidiaries of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) have started taking precautionary procedures such as suspending issuance of sick leaves and recalling employees who are currently on leave or undergoing training courses.

They explained that representatives from the syndicates held negotiations with KPC during which they demanded for promotions particularly to some vacant positions, and the appointment of their family members and relatives in projects taken up by contractors in the oil sector. However, when KPC refused to succumb to such demands, the representatives hinted that they will hold the strike if their demands are not met.

Meanwhile, parliamentary circles have insisted on the importance of dialogue between the labor unions and top officials of the oil sector in order to reach an appropriate solution and defuse the current crisis. At the same time, they have also called upon the two sides to avoid the use of aggressive language that could lead to further crippling of the sector. They stressed that the use of aggressive language and calls for strikes should not be made by the employees of the sector that represents the only source of income for the country especially with the unstable oil prices and deficit in the state budget.

In consideration of the current economical situation of the country, the parliamentary circles affirmed the importance of striving to serve the nation and its interests, and leaving the matter of dispute in the hands of wise people so that necessary solution suitable for both parties can be found.

In this regard, sources from the oil sector revealed that all oil companies have instructed their employees who are on vacation and undergoing training courses outside the company to report to work on Sunday morning, adding that no excuses will be accepted including sick leaves unless they are issued from the oil sector’s hospital.

They indicated that those who violate these instructions will face legal actions, adding that the employees have been warned against participating in the strike as it is in violation of the law. The sources said negotiations concerning this matter are ongoing, indicating that there are hopes of the matter being resolved positively.

Alternatives
In the same context, MP Ahmad Lari said all sectors of the country should play a part in proposing alternatives through constructive criticism and not with the aim of searching for ways to attain benefits. He insisted that top officials of the oil sector and the members of oil syndicates should take into account the current sensitive economic and political situation of the region. Lari said, “The country is faced with a budget deficit due to which efforts must be combined to rectify the financial situation of the country and carry out basic economic reform. Therefore, all sectors should shoulder the national responsibility and cooperate to overcome the problem”.

He affirmed that the freedom of speech is guaranteed by the Constitution and that the parliament will support this freedom as long as it is being expressed within the framework of the constitution and law. Lari said, “Preserving and protecting the country’s economy, particularly since it relies on a single source of income, is important. Our brothers in the oil syndicates must consider this aspect as well as the unstable economic conditions and sensitive political situation surrounding the country.”

MP Dr Abdulrahman Al-Jeeran stressed the need to pay necessary attention to this issue particularly with the current challenges that the region is facing, affirming that aggravations from both sides of the conflict must be curbed due to the local, regional and foreign challenges that the country have been facing. He insisted that such an issue involving the only source of income of the country is unacceptable and that the top officials of the oil sector should not try to impose a new change in the oil sector, urging the officials and the labor unions to deal with the situation with wisdom and deal with the strike and its causes from the perspective of the supreme interest of Kuwait and its people.

Strongly affirming that the only source of the country’s income should not be the field of conflicts and disputes, Dr Al- Jeeran said the oil syndicates should use legal channels to express their demands without causing any harm to the interest of the country. Head of the labor union of Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) Salah Al-Marzouq revealed that the Cabinet did not discuss in its decisions or during its meetings that the rights and incomes of the employees of the oil sector will be reduced as part of its reform measures for preserving expenditures in the oil sector, reports Al- Seyassah daily.

In a press statement, he indicated that the strike to be staged by the employees of the oil sector on Sunday will cost the country millions of dollars on a daily basis. He explained that the country will lose about KD 12 billion if this strike lasts for ten days and the oil production will reduce from more than three million barrels per day to 900,000 barrels, which is sufficient just for the local market use.

Al-Marzouq revealed that Kuwait has the capacity of storing export oil of only nine-day production and the cost of contractors will increase because they will be carrying out extra operations that are not covered in their contracts, adding that the oil sector will be directly affected as a result of non-technical and untrained foreign employees. Al-Marzouq indicated that environmental catastrophe is expected to happen as a result of gases emitting from the depth of the ground in various oil areas, which are usually handled using a refined scientific mechanism. He said, “These gases could cause explosions and also lead to serious health conditions including cancer.” He affirmed that the policies followed by the Kuwait Petroleum Company have negatively affected the country in an unprecedented manner, starting with targeting the national manpower and reaching the level of harming the oil sector as a whole by handing it over to several businesspersons based on the policy of “privatization”.

Al-Marzouq stressed that such irresponsible decisions of the offi cials of the oil sector caused many employees to leave the oil sector, indicating that more than 150 skilled Kuwaiti employees left the oil sector to work in other sectors or in a neighboring country. Preachers and clerics of Kuwait have intervened in the issue relating to the strike declared by the oil syndicates.

Preacher Ojail Al-Nashmi has issued a fatwa to claim that the strike is “Haram” (Illegal) because it is against the public interest particularly since it affects service authorities such as electricity and water, and oil authorities, and can result in huge losses for the country. In a post on his Twitter account, Al- Nashmi said those responsible for the strike deserve to be legally penalized because the strike is against the interest of the people and will lead to huge financial losses for the country.

Meanwhile, Deputy Head of Financial and Administrative Affairs at Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) Ali Abdullah Saturday issued a circular in which he warned all employees against participating in the strike. He affirmed that the company will have to take necessary legal procedures, as per the bylaw on penalties, against those who are absent from work without obtaining official permission, adding that such penalties will negatively impact them in terms of the awards and merits granted to employees.

By Abdulrahman Al-Shimmari Al-Seyassah Staff and Agencies

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