112,000 earn below BD99
By Geoffrey Bew
Published: 6th June 2007
MORE than 112,000 expats and Bahrainis working in the private sector earn less than BD99 a month, according to an unofficial report released yesterday.
Another 50,465 are paid less than BD50, according to research by the now-dissolved Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR).
It states that in contrast, a privileged few take home as much as BD50,000 a month.
The report states there are also low wages, disparity in salaries and inequality in the public sector pay-rise system, where senior and middle-ranking workers allegedly receive average rises of BD236 a month, while lower level employees get just BD21.
112,000 earn below BD99
By Geoffrey Bew
Published: 6th June 2007
MORE than 112,000 expats and Bahrainis working in the private sector earn less than BD99 a month, according to an unofficial report released yesterday.
Another 50,465 are paid less than BD50, according to research by the now-dissolved Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR).
It states that in contrast, a privileged few take home as much as BD50,000 a month.
The report states there are also low wages, disparity in salaries and inequality in the public sector pay-rise system, where senior and middle-ranking workers allegedly receive average rises of BD236 a month, while lower level employees get just BD21.
According to the study, which has been completed using information collected from newspaper articles, 48 per cent of workers in the government sector receive salaries of only BD200 after recent pay-rises.
It also disputes National Employment Project figures that only 14,400 Bahrainis in the private sector earn less than BD200 a month, claiming the real figure is 18,000.
The GDN reported last month that more than 13,600 Bahrainis in the private sector now earn more than BD200 a month because of the unofficial minimum wage being pushed by the government.
A total of 71,703 Bahrainis work in the private sector and another 34,624 in the public sector, according to the Central Bank of Bahrain Economic Indicators bulletin.
However, the BCHR report states that 60pc of pensions in the private sector do not exceed BD250 a month, while more than five per cent are no more than BD100.
Meanwhile, the document states men earn an average of BD63 more than women in the public sector and BD147 more in the private sector.
It also alleges the wages of 3,000 Bahraini women working in kindergartens start at just BD40, while two thirds of them are not insured.
Another problem facing women was that kindergarten owners employ them only on short-term contracts, not exceeding one academic year.
This means workers are deprived of continued social insurance coverage and they have to work extra years to be eligible for their pension.
It also alleged that some women were dismissed during pregnancy and if they were off sick, they were required to find someone to take their place for free.
The report says low wages are making it difficult for families to survive as the costs of living in the country continue to soar.
“Semi-official studies indicate that the poverty line for a Bahraini family in 1995 was stable at BD309, but the cost of life has rapidly doubled,” it says.
“This makes it difficult for any Bahraini family to provide itself with minimum needs for less than BD400 to BD500 per month.
“This is true considering the high cost of housing, escalating food prices and the lack of public transportation.”
The report says the average wage preference of Bahrainis over non-Bahrainis is BD170.
However, it adds that this is misleading since the majority of migrant workers are living in “tragic conditions which exceed what Bahrainis suffer from as far as wages and working conditions are concerned.”
“Because of the prevailing economic freedom in Bahrain, employers prefer to employ foreign workers, taking into account costs and revenues, to maximize their profits and obtain an increased efficiency and competitiveness in their institutions,” the report states.
It also says the government has recruited more than 20,000 Pakistanis, Yemenis, Jordanians and Syrians in the security forces, the National Guard and police, while Bahrainis are being largely ignored. geoff@gdn.com.bh
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