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ITF defends dockers’ right to strike in Kuwait
18 March 2010
The ITF has issued a letter of protest to the Kuwaiti government following reports from a dockers’ union that its labour rights are being violated; the government has sought to prevent it from taking strike action.
The ITF-affiliated Kuwait Ports Foundation Workers’ Union, which represents 930 members employed by the state-owned Kuwait Ports Foundation, has attempted to enter into negotiations with managers for the past two years. The union was seeking to discuss the fact that staff benefits and career development structures had not been reviewed since the 1970s. The minister of transport had promised to improve working conditions and to review the payscale, which has remained the same since 1971.
However, as the government reneged on its promise and refused to negotiate, the union took the decision to embark on strike action. In response, the Kuwaiti Council of Ministers held an emergency meeting during which it decided to take legal action to prevent the strike from going ahead.
In a letter dated 18 March, ITF general secretary David Cockroft urged the prime minister, Sheikh Nasser Mohammed Al Ahmed, and the minister of transport Dr Mohammed Al Bseiri to intervene in the matter. He urged them to direct the council to end the “unfair intransigence” towards the union’s demand for better working conditions and its legal right to strike.
Kuwait has ratified International Labour Organization (ILO) convention 87 on freedom of association and the protection of the right to organise, which gives unions the right to take industrial action, including strike action.
Bilal Malkawi, ITF Arab World office, commented: “The port workers’ union does not want to go on strike for the sake of striking. It is fighting for members’ rights. The Kuwaiti government should adhere to the ILO conventions that it has ratified and negotiate with the union.”
He added: “The ITF and its affiliates will stand in solidarity with its affiliate in Kuwait.”
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