New call to end workers’ abuse
By Geoffrey Bew
Published: 31 March 2007
SOME migrant workers in Bahrain are being employed in deplorable conditions, a senior US trade union official said yesterday. International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers president Gregory Junemann said the country was one of many that imports cheap labour and was guilty of exploiting them.
He called for international standards on migrant workers to be raised worldwide to stop the abuse of those who leave their homes behind in pursuit of a better life for them and their families.
“We know what is happening with private employees,” he said.
New call to end workers’ abuse
By Geoffrey Bew
Published: 31 March 2007
SOME migrant workers in Bahrain are being employed in deplorable conditions, a senior US trade union official said yesterday. International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers president Gregory Junemann said the country was one of many that imports cheap labour and was guilty of exploiting them.
He called for international standards on migrant workers to be raised worldwide to stop the abuse of those who leave their homes behind in pursuit of a better life for them and their families.
“We know what is happening with private employees,” he said.
“They are bringing people in from very poor countries into Bahrain and making them work in deplorable conditions for very little wages or no wages and it happens here and in the United States.
“That’s where the real international standards are. We can say this is what they are, but everybody knows this is happening.
“That is why we need to be so alert about the US-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement.
“We are in favour of free trade but we must use free trade agreements to say this lowering of the international standard of migrant workers have to stop.”
He urged union federations around the world to put pressure on governments “to raise international standards to what we say they are and not what we know that they are”.
Mr Junemann was speaking at a Press conference held at the General Federation of Bahrain Trade Union office, Adliya.
He was among a five-member team from the US, including senior representatives of the American Federation of Labour and Congress of Industrial Organisations (AFL-CIO), who left last night.
They met Labour Minister Dr Majeed Al Alawi, local workers’ organisations, officials from the Migrant Workers Protection Society (MWPS) and GFBTU representatives during a three-day stay.
They were invited by the GFBTU, led by secretary-general Abdulghaffar Abdulhussain, following a similar visit to America by Bahraini officials in 2005.
Mr Junemann’s comments were backed up by AFL-CIO president John Sweeney, who said the problems faced in Bahrain existed in all countries.
“The issue of migrant workers is a very serious one and we are attempting to address it in our own country,” he said.
“Our concern is that workers are being exploited all around the world and migrant workers are really suffering and being taken advantage of.
“We must recognise that this is a global problem. It has been addressed domestically in some countries more than in others.
“The horror stories that we hear of are just so widespread that this is something that deserves more attention, from our governments in particular.”
Mr Abdulhussain said the GFBTU was working hard to improve workers’ lot and called for the government to reassess and review its policy on the right of workers to strike.
