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Lone man’s protest put on hold
By Aniqa Haider
Published: 5th September 2008
A BAHRAINI worker has agreed to put his one-man protest against Bapco on hold, while union officials investigate his victimisation claims.
Abbass Al Omran’s allegations were discussed at a meeting yesterday between Bapco Trade Union and the General Federation of Bahrain Trade Unions (GFBTU).
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Lone man’s protest put on hold
By Aniqa Haider
Published: 5th September 2008
A BAHRAINI worker has agreed to put his one-man protest against Bapco on hold, while union officials investigate his victimisation claims.
Abbass Al Omran’s allegations were discussed at a meeting yesterday between Bapco Trade Union and the General Federation of Bahrain Trade Unions (GFBTU).
Officials said later that they would investigate Mr Al Omran’s claims, by he must first produce evidence of the alleged campaign against him, including written warnings from the company.
The mechanical projects engineer claims he has been denied pay rises given to others and had been threatened with disciplinary action over his repeated demands for a fair deal.
He was due to stage his latest one-man picket on Wednesday, but agreed to postpone it, pending the union talks.
The company had previously said that pay rises and promotions were only given to those who deserved them and claimed Mr Al Omran’s work was not up to the mark.
“After my third protest on Sunday, my department manager, supervisor and the human resources manager called me for further investigation, but I refused to attend the meeting,” said Mr Al Omran.
“They warned me and said they would take stricter action, but nothing has come up yet.”
Mr Al Omran is a former Banoco employee, absorbed into Bapco when the two companies merged in 1999.
He says he had been passed over for pay rises and promotions from November 2006, while colleagues benefited.
The father-of-three also claims that the management has taken several disciplinary actions, to avenge his protests.
His first protest was on June 29 and the second on August 18, when he was questioned by police, but released.
He claimed earlier that the management has stopped his normal duty assignments because he was a unionist.
Management said earlier that Mr Al Omran’s union membership had been frozen since November 2006, after which the company took away his access card to various areas in the plant.
The card was only for union members, said a company official.
Mr Al Omran was still able to work, but was restricted to his own department.
Bapco Trade Union vice-president Mohammed Dulabi confirmed earlier that Mr Al Omran’s membership was suspended nearly two years ago, but would not say why.
However, Mr Al Omran said yesterday that his membership was not frozen until last year.
“My membership was frozen on April 10, last year, and not in November 2006, because I met with workers and asked if they had any problems,” he said.
“The same day my manager called me for investigation and stopped my access card.
“He also issued a warning letter that if I spoke to any of the employees, they would take strict action against me.
“Then they started threatening me and when it came to promotion and grade adjustment, they excluded me from the list.
“They also excluded my name from a training programme called Individual Development Programme.
“Even if my membership is frozen, they cannot stop my other activities.
“It is as if they are taking revenge and forcing me to quit my current job.”
Mr Al Dulabi said the union and federation officials met yesterday to discuss Mr Al Omran’s situation.
“The meeting decided that Mr Al Omran has to provide evidence that the company harassed him and produce all the warning letters which were sent to him to improve his performance.”
A Bapco spokesman told the GDN that Mr Al Omran was informed several times to improve his performance.
“We have been sending warning letters and asking him to improve his performance for a long time,” he said.
Mr Al Omran’s department manager Nazih Al Awadhi would not comment. GFBTU president Abdulghaffar Abdulhussain said the case was still under investigation and it was too early to comment. aneeqa@gdn.com.bh
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© Gulf Daily News
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/1yr_arc_Articles.asp?Article=228160&Sn=BNEW&IssueID=31169&date=9-5-2008
