Gulf | Bahrain
Al Wefaq seeks delay in move to scrap Bahrain sponsorship system
Pressure is mounting on the labour minister to revoke or at least freeze a decision to scrap the sponsorship system that would allow foreign workers to switch jobs with the consent of employers.
- By Habib Toumi, Bureau Chief
- Published: 23:01 June 2, 2009
Manama: Pressure is mounting on the labour minister to revoke or at least freeze a decision to scrap the sponsorship system that would allow foreign workers to switch jobs with the consent of employers.
Al Wefaq, Bahrain's largest political society and parliamentary bloc, on Monday became the latest formation to ask Majeed Al Alawi to postpone the implementation of the decision from August 1 to next year.
"We have formed a group to study the decision and our conclusion is that we need more consultations before it is implemented," Ali Salman, the head of Al Wefaq, said.
"We need a consensus among all the parties involved in such a decision and therefore we need further talks and consultations," he said.
Al Wefaq's new position is a reverse of its earlier stance when it said that it supported the decision to scrap the sponsorship system as a way of helping reform the labour market in the private sector where foreigners make up around 81 per cent of the total workforce.
"The real labour reform challenges that need immediate attention are in fact the lack of genuine competitiveness, inequality between business people and the overwhelming employment by the private sector of foreign workers," said Ali Salman whose bloc holds 17 of the 40 seats in the lower house of the bicameral parliament.
Businessmen and several political societies have put Al Alawi under siege since he announced the decision to scrap the sponsorship system.
Under relentless pressure from the powerful business community, the parliament last week voted to include a clause in the new labour law that would make it mandatory for foreign workers to stay for at least one year with their employers before switching jobs.
On Monday, Bahrain Society of Engineers said that the application of the new decision would mean the disruption of their work and heavy losses for them.
"They should have consulted with us before announcing the decision. Projects usually last two years and if an architect or an engineer leaves in the middle of a project, it would mean a series of problems for the office and the possible end of the study," Thamer Mohammad Salah, a society member, said.
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