ITF Unions in Maersk
Bahrain port workers’ union calls on Maersk to respect labour law
20 March 2008
The General Union of Port Workers of Bahrain has informed the ITF that it is in dispute with the managements of APM Terminals Bahrain (APMT) and Svitzer Bahrain Co.(a company working with APMT), over the companies' refusal to compensate workers financially for working on public holidays. The companies want to give workers days off in lieu which would be added to their annual vacation credit instead. The two companies issued a circular recently taking this position in relation to work carried out on the Arafat and Holy Adha Eid public and national holidays. Company practice had been to pay employees compensation and this was the case between December 2006 and 15th December 2007.
The union has demanded that the managements of the companies respect Article 153 of Bahrain's Labour Law for the Private Sector and asked them to reconsider their decision. It has also called on the companies to engage in meaningful discussions in order to reach a satisfactory resolution. The companies have met twice with the union but the matter remains unresolved.
The union has sought the opinion of the Ministry of Labour on the interpretation of the labour law. The Labour Law for the Private Sector provides that if the work situation requires employees to work on a public holiday, the employer shall pay an additional wage or give the employees another day off as compensation. However, if the employer is used to giving its workers an allowance and has done so for a certain period of time then this financial compensation becomes the right of the workers and cannot be replaced by a day off in lieu except in the case of new workers. The union feels that the clarification by the Ministry supports its position and points out that the company has compensated workers for at least 9 public holidays (a total of 15 days) over the last year.
A meeting was held last week between the Ministry of Labour, the Human Resources Managers of the two companies and the union chairman. As the companies were not prepared to accept the explanation of the Ministry of Labour, the meeting ended with the union deciding to take the matter to court.
The Head of the Union, Mr. Salman Al-Saad said: "We are disappointed by the companies' apparent determination to force us to resort to the legal process and to bring this case to the courts following the advice of the Ministry of Labour. This is unnecessarily time-consuming, but we are dealing with a company which appears not to be paying sufficient attention to our Bahraini labour law”.
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