Oman bans strikes in essential services

Muscat: The Oman government has banned strikes in essential services, including oil companies, refineries, ports and airports.

The law banning strikes, ordered by Shaikh Abdullah Bin Nasser Al Bakri, Minister of Manpower came into effect from Monday.

An amendment in the law regarding ‘collective bargain and strike’, has been revised, banning strikes or instigating workers for strike at oil companies, refineries, ports and airports, according to a report in government-owned Arabic daily ‘Oman’.

The law, according to the report encompasses all essential services besides oil companies, refinery, ports and airport.

The Minister’s order clarifies that in case of disputes, a committee will study workers’ demands in these sectors. The committee will comprise a ministry representative, a member of the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a member of the General Federation of Oman Trade Unions and a representative of the workers in dispute.

The committee will have the right to use any other party or authority to discuss the demands of workers to work out an agreement, the order states. If the committee fails to resolve a dispute within three weeks, the case will be transferred to a competent authority.

The order stresses that in all cases of disputes, employees must continue working during the settlement of labour demands.

The days of strike in establishments of essential services would be considered as absence from work and the employer will have the right to take legal action against striking workers, according to the order.

Separately, Sultan Qaboos Bin Saeed issued a royal decree stipulating that civil service employees will now have a standardised pay structure and service grades.

The unification and standardising of salaries to public sector employees will come into effect from January 1, 2014, according to the Royal Order.

A report by the government-owned Oman News Agency says that the decision to unify grade and salaries of all staff members of the civil service sector will impact on government’s spending allocation but a positive impact on the economy is expected from the decision to standardise pays and grades.

Both decisions, to standardise pays in civil service and ban strikes by the essential services employees, come close on the heels of a long strike by the teachers employed by the Ministry of Education.

The striking teachers had called for, among other demands, standardising pays as well as grades but their decision had crippled schools effecting studies of over 518,000 pupils across the country.