This video is called Bahrain 14 February revolution: medical employees detained.
From TradeArabia News Service:
70 workers in Bahrain file wages appeal
Manama: 2 hours and 6 minutes ago
A total of 70 workers from a contracting company filed a complaint at Bahrain’s Labour Ministry yesterday claiming they had not been paid for the past eight months.
The Indian, Bangladeshi and Pakistani workers from Senior Group of Companies said they had intended to file the case earlier but ministry officials told them to come after Eid holidays. …
The foremen, carpenters, masons and labourers reportedly receive salaries between BD90 and BD200 per month and claim their families are suffering as they haven’t been able to send money.
They claim that they are unable to buy groceries and other daily necessities. Some workers whose visas expired several months ago are allegedly not being released to return home or work elsewhere.
A meeting between ministry and company officials was held yesterday to find a solution. “We are sitting at home for the past six to eight months, as we have no job,” said one of the workers, who didn’t want to be named.
“The company officials are not listening to our plight and have told the ministry that they have already paid us all the pending dues, which is not true.”
“Our foremen didn’t receive the salary for the past eight months while those who work as masons, carpenters and labourers haven’t received wages since April. We have no money to buy groceries and other necessary items, and we are taking things on loan, which I am not sure how we will repay.
“Our families are fighting with us as we are not sending them any money. We are unable to speak to the manager and other officials are not ready to listen to us. We need a solution and want the company to send us home if they can’t pay us,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Indian Embassy has been notified by the Labour Ministry that the delayed wages of 47 workers from another contracting company will be paid by Saturday.
An embassy official said the workers were not paid for over three months by Alliance Projects and wanted to be sent back home. “The company has assured us to pay the workers by September 10,” the official said.
He said the workers earlier visited the ministry building in Isa Town to register their case and wanted to return. They arrived six months ago, which meant they could not avail of the mobility law as they have to complete a year in the company, said the official.
“In addition, if they resign before the two years of contract, they are liable to pay the employer for the expenses incurred.”
The official said the workers had been frustrated with no response from the management. He said one of the workers was admitted to Salmaniya Medical Complex after being diagnosed with tuberculosis.
“We at the embassy have registered their complaint and are now waiting for the company to settle their payments.”
By Michelle Chen in the USA:
The unrest in Bahrain has washed in and out of the U.S. media spotlight as protests churn all over the Arab world. But one American community that’s keeping a watchful eye on the tiny Gulf nation is organized labor. It turns out that Bahrain’s political unrest is an international labor problem. While the monarchy cracks down on labor unions, it continues to enjoy special trade privileges with Washington.
Nearly 200 companies have violated Bahrain’s summer work ban, with 70 percent of offences registered at construction sites in the capital of Manama: here.
Bahrain: Physicians Released; Clashes, Human Rights Concerns Remain: here.
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Union probes 130 labour complaints
By Sandeep Singh Grewal , Posted on Friday, August 09, 2013
MORE than 130 labour complaints including unpaid wages, physical abuse and passport confiscation, have been registered in the last nine months.
They are being investigated by the Bahrain Labour Union Free Federation (Al Hurr) in co-operation with foreign embassies, employers and authorities concerned.
They include cases filed by expatriate labourers and domestic workers between September last year and June.
“We registered more than 130 complaints from foreign workers related to non-payment of salaries, physical abuse, unfair dismissals and passport confiscation,” said a federation spokesman.
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=358917
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BD10,000 fines?
Posted on » Sunday, November 03, 2013
I was saddened to read about the death of another construction worker (GDN, October 29).
Hiring “illegal workers” is the norm in the construction industry in Bahrain and any surprise LMRA inspection on construction sites can confirm this. I would suggest the Labour Ministry increase the fine imposed on the contractor for construction workers’ deaths to BD10,000 and imprisonment of at least one week for the owner of the company, instead of fining just BD1,000 and just watch how the safety standards automatically improve at construction sites and transform Bahrain to a leader in safety standards in the GCC, minimising if not eliminating further tragic loss of human lives. Qaseem Ali Khan
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=364223
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Disabled Indian worker in Bahrain returns home after 9 years
Last Updated: Monday, February 10, 2014, 17:51
Dubai: A 49-year-old disabled Indian worker in Bahrain, who overstayed on his visit visa, has finally returned home to reunite with his family after nearly nine years.
Chepyala Satyanarayana from Andhra Pradesh had arrived in Bahrain on a visit-visa in March, 2005 and was doing odd jobs but after suffering a stroke in 2011, he was completely paralysed.
Even after receiving treatment at a medical college, he was left bound to the wheel-chair, forcing him to beg on the streets to make ends meet, local media reported.
Satyanarayana, who has two children, had not seen his family for nearly nine years.
His case was brought to light in an open-house meet at the Indian Embassy in Bahrain in the last week of December 2013, First Secretary Ram Singh told.
The Indian Community Relief Fund (ICRF), an embassy-aided organisation, brought his case to the open-house meet with the Ambassador, Singh said.
Embassy’s follow-up coordinator Clifford Correia campaigned with Bahraini immigration authorities for reducing the 8,000 Bahraini dinars fine imposed on Satyanarayana for violating visa regulations.
“He overstayed on visit visa for eight years that led to fines of about 8,000 Bahraini dinars,” Correia said.
He said the Nationality, Passport and Residence Affairs agreed to drastically slash the fine on humanitarian grounds.
The ICRF managed to pay the reduced fine of 1,000 dinars and with the help of the Indian Embassy, sent Satyanarayana home on Saturday, Singh said.
PTI
First Published: Monday, February 10, 2014, 17:51
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Indian embassy in Bahrain to help exploited expat
IANS | Dubai
February 12, 2014 Last Updated at 19:32 IST
The Indian embassy in Bahrain has pledged to help five Indian workers who have allegedly not been paid their salaries for four months by their employer.
A social worker had taken the five, who work as labourers, to the embassy in Manama, the Gulf Daily News reported Wednesday.
“The workers filed a complaint against their employer, saying he didn’t pay them for four months,” an embassy spokesman was quoted as saying.
“After receiving the case, we called the company officials, who have promised to pay the workers by next week,” the official said.
Embassy officials have also asked the social worker to stay in touch with the workers and update them on the developments.
One of the workers said he came to Bahrain with hopes of earning a good living to support his family back home.
“But my dreams were dashed when I came here and started working as a labourer. I earn little money, less than what was promised before signing the contract,” he said.
“It’s been months now and I haven’t sent a single fil back home, which is worrying my family,” he added.
One Bahraini dinar equals Indian Rs.164.70 and comprises 1,000 fils.
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Poor expats in Bahrain hit by postal rates rise
Manama, 2 hours, 43 minutes ago
Poor expatriates living in Bahrain have been hit hard by rising costs of postal charges, according to campaigners.
Bahrain Post increased postage rates by up to 300 per cent last December, which has affected businesses, especially publishing houses that heavily rely on the postal services, even forcing some to relocate abroad, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.
However, migrant workers’ rights activists say the worst affected are low-income labourers, who rely on inexpensive postal service to send letters and parcels home.
Angela Marquis, who volunteers at Sacred Heart Church and the Ecumenical Conference of Charity, says many foreign workers have been forced to stop using Bahrain’s postal service.
“I know of an Indian family who have said they can no longer afford to send parcels of goods, like household items, food and clothing back home to their families,” she told the GDN.
“Some are resorting to sending them by cargo which is still very costly for them.
“I know there are also a lot of Ethiopians who send packages home who have to stop.
“This is one of the biggest motivations for some of these workers to even be out here, to earn money so they can send things home to their children and families.”
Bahrain resident Ivor Hoppe, who helps low-income workers through various campaigns, said the new costs were unfairly targeting poor sectors of the workforce.
“Most of these Asian or Ethiopian workers come here for a better life and to take up the kind of work which no-one else will do,” he said.
“Their main link with home is through letters to their families and this now has to stop due to the exorbitant increase in overseas postage rates.
“Letters to loved ones have to cease and the parcels which they could send at acceptable rates, have gone.
“They manage to get messages back to their families through their friends with email access.
“Why is one of the most needful sectors of the Bahrain workforce being targeted?”
The GDN earlier reported that the new rates apply to local mail and anything sent within the Gulf as well as international postal charges.
Banks and businesses throughout Bahrain have been up in arms over the unexplained increase, claiming it is having an immediate and dramatic impact on their businesses, with many banks relying on postal services to send out account and product information to customers.
It now costs BD12 ($31.7) to send a small 2kg parcel to India, BD36 to send a 10kg parcel and a 20kg parcel will cost BD66. – TradeArabia News Service
http://www.tradearabia.com/news/LAW_251954.html
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