Gulf | Bahrain
150 unpaid labourers go on strike
A group of angry labourers went on strike this week as their employer refused to pay salaries for several months, a diplomat here has said.
- By Barbara Bibbo', Correspondent
- Published: 00:00 December 13, 2006
Doha: A group of angry labourers went on strike this week as their employer refused to pay salaries for several months, a diplomat here has said.
About 150 Nepali workers employed by a food supplier, have refused to work since Sunday and have sought the help of their embassy to put an end to their ordeal.
"We have tried to solve the case amicably but with no result. Now we have filed a case with the local court," Rajendra Pandey, first secretary at Nepal's Embassy, told Gulf News yesterday.
"In the meantime, we have rented houses for them and we are supporting them thanks to the help of a welfare fund, while we wait for the court to solve the dispute."
Local daily Peninsula reported the workers as saying the company refused to pay wages and overtime. The situation worsened as the employers accused three of the Nepalese workers of stealing QR150,000 (Dh150,000), and managed to have them deported. Their colleagues maintain the three were innocent.
"We want to get our salary arrears and other allowances besides an air ticket to go back to our country. We are no longer interested in working with this company," a worker said.
20 complaints a day
Pandey said the embassy receives an average of 20 complaints a day from workers. There are 20,000 Nepali workers in Qatar, he said.
"The problem is that in each of these cases we need to find shelter and food, because the local authorities do not provide for them and most of the companies refuse to extend any support. It is a huge burden on the mission."
In another case a construction company which had denied salaries to 200 Indian workers for more than five months pledged the Indian mission to pay salary arrears by the end of the year.
Indian Ambassador George Joseph said the embassy had successfully mediated between the employer and the workers in the case.
"The employer has agreed to pay the workers' dues. As the workers came on a project visa [a working permit granted for the duration of the project only], we have been assured by the authorities that they will continue to work on the same project under a new employer without losing their jobs," he told Gulf News.
Qatar passed a new labour law in 2004 that gives workers the right to strike and to form unions under certain conditions.
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