Gulf | Bahrain

Imposing minimum wage in Bahrain will cause chaos

Introducing a minimum wage in Bahrain would lead to the closure of half of the establishments, the labour minister has warned.

  • By Habib Toumi, Bahrain Bureau Chief
  • Published: 00:08 October 25, 2008
  • Gulf News

Manama: Introducing a minimum wage in Bahrain would lead to the closure of half of the establishments, the labour minister has warned.

"We have to appreciate that the imposition of a minimum wage would mean that half of the establishments in Bahrain would shut down," Majeed Al Alawi said.

"In any case, the introduction of such a scheme would have to be carefully coordinated with the other Gulf countries; otherwise, it would not be practical in any way," the minister told Bahrain TV. Bahrain, like the other Gulf Cooperation Council countries, does not have an established minimum wage for expatriate workers employed in the country.

This is an issue that is at the centre of arguments with some of the workers' home countries as well as a major contentious point with international rights groups.

Employers, led by the powerful Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI), have consistently rejected the introduction of a minimum wage or the formation of a wage council that would regulate salaries.

According to the BCCI, salaries should be determined only through the law of supply and demand and should not be subjected to decisions by institutions.

However, locally, the national federation of trade unions has been calling for the formation of the council, claiming that it would help reach a consensus between workers, employers and the government.

"The council would, with the help of experts and NGOs, define the poverty line and set up a minimum wage based on inflation figures," Salman Mahfoodh, the secretary-general of the federation, said.

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