Several Omani employees of Galfar Engineering & Contracting boycotted work on Tuesday, affecting operations at many of its construction sites in Muscat. Among their demands were a work schedule of five days a week and change in the overtime payment structure.
According to the staff at the company's headquarters in Ghala, mostly technicians and drivers turned up to protest against the policies of the
management. The crowd later dispersed around 11am after getting a reassurance that the company would shift to a five day week.
"During our last protest in March, we were promised that we would get two days off a week from July onwards, but there was no communication from the management on the issue," said Said, a heavy vehicle driver working with the company for last six years.
"It was only when we boyc-otted work on Tuesday morning and demonstrated at the head office that the management heeded our demands."
Another of their demands, which according to the protestors has not been met, is the payment of an RO50 dearness allowance. They alleged that this had been promised by the company.
"Many companies acceded to their staff's demand of a dearness allowance as the cost of living has grown tremendously over the years. But our company is still dithering over the issue," said Mohammad, a forklift driver who has been working with the company for the last seven years.
The protesters also comp-lained about the quality of food provided in the company mess. Abdullah al Araimi, manager, Omanisation, Galfar, told Muscat Daily that a few Omani employees had boycotted work on Tuesday morning.
"We had a little problem in the morning, but after reassuring them that they would get two days off from now on, the staff was happy to disperse and get back to work."
On the issue of dearness allowance, Araimi said the company was awaiting a decision from the Ministry of Manpower. "We understand that the cost of living has gone up, but we are awaiting a final word from the government."
"As for overtime payment, the company is following all the labour laws and it would be wrong to blame it for such issues," he said, adding that Galfar is among the largest employers in the country, with more than 4,800 Omanis on its rolls.
© Muscat Daily 2011
