Breaking News / World
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/world/view_article.php?article_id=44134
Bahrain at work on new labor law
Agence France-Presse
Posted date: January 18, 2007
MANAMA — Bahrain’s labor minister said Wednesday that a collective labor agreement is in the works to provide protection for foreign workers, mostly from Asia, whose rights are often abused in the Gulf region.
In an interview with AFP, Labor Minister Majid al-Alawi said the new code, which would amend laws in effect since 1976, would also create an “arbitration commission to breach differences” between unions and businesses.
Breaking News / World
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/world/view_article.php?article_id=44134
Bahrain at work on new labor law
Agence France-Presse
Posted date: January 18, 2007
MANAMA — Bahrain’s labor minister said Wednesday that a collective labor agreement is in the works to provide protection for foreign workers, mostly from Asia, whose rights are often abused in the Gulf region.
In an interview with AFP, Labor Minister Majid al-Alawi said the new code, which would amend laws in effect since 1976, would also create an “arbitration commission to breach differences” between unions and businesses.
The new plan was recently submitted to parliament after two years of negotiations between the labor ministry, the chamber of commerce and the Bahraini workers union, he said.
In addition to installing the principle of negotiation on collective labor agreements “which strengthens the role of unions,” the text “includes clauses on (foreign) domestic workers with the aim of assuring protection for this category,” he said.
Under the plan, foreign workers would report to the recently created Labor Market Authority which comprises the private sector and workers union, instead of the labor ministry, he said.
The Labor Market Authority’s mission is to promote the employment of Bahrainis and make them more competitive than foreign workers by imposing more taxes on the recruitment and employment of foreigners.
Unemployment, long a key concern in the Gulf monarchy, fell dramatically last year from 15 percent to four percent of the active population, the minister added.
Bahrain has around 707,000 inhabitants, including 269,000 foreigners, most of whom are from Asia and are employed as domestic help.
The lack of comprehensive legislation on foreign workers in the Gulf Arab states means Asian maids often face physical abuse, sexual harassment, rape, non-payment or delay in payment of salary and overly long hours.