KUWAIT CITY, HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah has indirectly intervened to end a standoff between the management of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) and the Workers Syndicate in Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) over the workers' demand for salaries and employment privileges similar to those given to their counterparts at Kuwait Oil Company (KOC), Deputy Chairman of the union Mohammed Al-Hamlan told the Arab Times Sunday. Confirming that National Assembly Speaker Jassem Al-Khorafi and many parties have also intervened to solve the problem, Al-Hamlan lamented Minister of Oil, Electricity and Water Eng Mohammad Al-Olaim's stand on the issue was negative.
Instead of looking into the workers' demands during a meeting on the issue, Al-Hamlan said the minister refused to focus on the plight of the workers and insisted on tackling ways to regulate work procedures in the refineries. He also affirmed engaging in a 'war of words' with Al-Olaim in the meeting. On the results of negotiations between the union and oil sector officials, Al-Hamlan affirmed everything went in accordance with the demands of the union. He explained the problem lies in the lack of trust between the union and oil sector officials, so the announcement to call off the strike came in late.
Commenting on the issue, MP Mussalam Al-Barrak wondered what caused the delay in solving the problems of KNPC workers, considering Al-Olaim and the KPC officials have the ability to address the issue by granting equal payment and other employment benefits to KNPC and KOC workers. He said the KNPC workers are not keen on holding demonstrations to demand their rights but earlier attempts to hold a peaceful dialogue with the concerned officials went in vain. He asserted KPC issued a memo on granting the workers' demands only after sensing that the workers are serious in staging a strike on Sunday.
Calling on the Interior Ministry officials to explain the alleged arrest of union officials, Al-Barrak outrightly condemned the act which, he contended, should not happen in Kuwait that signed international treaties on protecting workers' unions and their leaders. He also congratulated the workers and union officials for the efforts they exerted to obtain their rights. On the other hand, MP Mohammed Al-Obaid confirmed the strike was called off immediately after the KPC officials agreed to grant the workers' demands. He said the MPs will discuss the issue as soon as the Parliament convenes for the next legislative round to prevent the recurrence of the problem in the future.
MP Ali Humoud Al-Hajri, in the meantime, expressed his surprise over the measures taken by the Ministry of Interior on Friday. "It was a big mistake on the ministry's part. Now that the strike was called off, we want good results and we will help the workers obtain their rights," he added. On the alleged arrest of protestors, Al-Hajri said "we have to ascertain reports in this regard but we gathered from reliable sources that the protestors were barred from entering the refinery. If this is true, we will hold those behind this decision responsible for their act as this is tantamount to restricting people's freedom of expression."
© Arab Times 2008
