'Authority needs more time to study demands'
KUWAIT CITY, Sept 30: Scores of Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI) employees participated in a two-hour sit-in on Sunday in protest against the new attendance regulations.
Several leaders of labor unions also joined the demonstration, threatening to hold a full-scale strike if their demands are not met. The sit-in started at 10:00 am during which several employees abandoned their posts for two hours to air their grievances to the head of the authority.
Meanwhile, PACI Director General Musaed Al-Asousi said the new regulations are the best compared to those implemented in other government agencies, considering the flexibility and simplicity of the rules. He disclosed the authority received the complaints of the workers on Thursday but they decided to hold the strike without giving the PACI officials a chance to explain the new regulations. He clarified it is impossible to take any decision unless the authority sees the implications of the new regulations in different sections and the effects on the work procedures.
Al-Asousi said the protestors are against three regulations - seeking permission to go out during working hours, exemption of the civil registrar employees from the additional half-hour of work, and exemption of those who have been in service for more than 25 years from the fingerprint attendance system. He pointed out the authority needs more time to study these demands; admitting it is difficult to monitor the attendance of all employees in 45 PACI branches where most of the workers have been in service for more than 25 years.
Furthermore, PACI Labor Union Chairperson Jabir Al-Daihani explained the workers decided to hold the sit-in to send a clear message to the authority that no one has the right to manipulate their rights. He added the union will hold a full-scale strike if the authority insists on implementing the new regulations.
© Arab Times 2012
