Nearly 700 expat workers held a sit-in outside the Ministries' Complex in downtown Kuwait yesterday morning in protest against their 'inhumane' living conditions and delayed salary payment for three months. "We, the workers of three companies present to you several complaints, including the non-payment of salaries and poor housing conditions," the workers said in a letter addressed to the Minister of Social Affairs and Labor. The laborers, who belonged to three major constructing and engineering co
mpanies, called on the minister to compel their employers to pay their backdated wages, which they claim to not have received since June this year. In their letter to the minister, the workers also maintained that their employers have not made overtime payments for almost a year.

The workers also stated that they have been reeling under the heavy burden of debts as a result of shouldering family responsibilities, they are now subject to paying off large amounts in debts.

The laborers also said that they live in dire straits and many of them have expired visas as employers have failed to renew them. The workers also accused the employers of withholding laborers' passports, not allowing them to resign from services or travel abroad to visit families in their home countries.

We are submitting these complaints for you to review their conditions, hoping that they are resolved as soon as possible," the workers concluded. Witnesses told the Kuwait Times that police had intervened so as to prevent workers from gathering inside the Ministries' Complex area. However, workers moved outside the complex with their buses and staged a sit-in at the location. A number of workers held leaflets aloft, demanding that officials solve their problems and look into their complaints.

Mansour Al-Mansour, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor's Assistant Undersecretary for Labor Affairs said that it has succeeded in ending the sit-in. "We have summoned the owners of the three firms and made them sign pledges to pay the overdue salaries of workers," a senior ministry official told The Kuwait Times.

The ministry has also allowed the employers a 15-day grace period to settle the problem or face penalties including the withdrawal of their financial deposits with the ministry.

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor demands employers in Kuwait to pay a deposit depending on the number of workers recruited. The deposit money is used by the ministry in case an employer fails to fulfill his obligations towards employees.

The managing director of one of the companies denied all allegations, saying that his firm had nothing to do with the laborers. "They are not our employees. Yes, some of them work in our projects through sub-contracting companies.

Most workers have been employed via sub-contracting firms which we hire to execute our projects. We are a respected company and treat all our workers humanely. I believe that the our firm was dragged into this scandal in order to tarnish our reputation," the company official told the Kuwait Times.

The strike comes one year after major demonstrations were held in Jleeb area, where thousands of Asian workers held strikes over 'mistreatment and underpayment' they were subject to by cleaning companies. During a time where many international organizations urge Gulf countries to cancel the 'sponsorship' system.

A local daily had earlier toured the residence of 6,000 Egyptian, Pakistani and Indian workers. The workers expressed their resentment by explaining the reasons that created intolerable living situations. They said that they did not receive salaries for months, while having been 'sold' to other companies without notice, leaving them to work without receiving pay.

Dozens of workers were clustered inside small rooms that lack ventilation and sewage facilities amidst garbage that emits foul odor, which creates harmful effects on the health of workers. Moreover, these workers were driven to rummage the trash can in search of food after failing to receive payment for more than six months.

Kuwait Times