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Struggling to Gain a Voice in a Changing World |
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| AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and General Federation of Bahrain Trade Unions Secretary General Abdul Ghaffar Abdul Hussain. |
Workers in the oil-rich countries along the Arabian Gulf are struggling to gain a voice amid rapid economic and social change. Citizens, trading partners and international financial institutions are pressing for more private-sector jobs and less public-sector employment. With unemployment at 15 to 20 percent, migrant workers, who comprise the bulk of the labor force, take dirty, dangerous, low-wage, uncertain jobs in construction and domestic service. Barbara Shailor, director of the AFL-CIO’s International Department, provides this update on the trip by an AFL-CIO Executive Council delegation to Bahrain in which she took part. The trip has ended, and the group has left the Middle East.
The oil boom has made Bahrain’s economy one of the fastest growing in the Middle East, but with oil reserves diminishing, Bahrain’s leaders are being forced to diversify the economy and increase employment in the private sector.
In an important step forward for the Bahraini labor movement, the government adopted new legislation in 2002 that recognized workers’ freedom of association and lifted a ban on strikes for private sector, maritime and civil service workers. But last year, the Bahrain government amended the original legislation with an edict that prohibits the right to strike across broad areas of the economy, including in bakeries and schools.
The General Federation of Bahrain Trade Unions (GFBTU) has complained to the International Labor Organization (ILO) about the government policies.
The U.S.–Bahrain Free Trade Agreement does not contain an enforceable workers’ rights provision, but it does urge both parties not to weaken existing laws. In 2006, Bahrain weakened its labor laws—after promising in 2004 to reform its laws to be in line with ILO standards on trade union rights. Bahrain made the promise to secure passage of the deal in the U.S. Congress.
In a meeting with Bahrain’s minister of labor, Dr. Majeed Bin Muhsen Al-Alawi, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and GFBTU Secretary General Abdul Ghaffar Abdul Hussain urged the government to honor the ILO convention on the right to strike and rescind the 2006 changes, which make it nearly impossible for most strikes to be considered legal. They also urged the government to honor its pledges to strengthen workers’ rights protections as a result of the U.S.-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement. While the minister seemed receptive to the conversation, he did not commit to any immediate changes.
As AFL-CIO President Sweeney says:
The recent trade agreement between Bahrain and the United States makes it an opportune time for the AFL-CIO and the GFBTU to come together and discuss our common concerns related to trade and the protection of workers’ rights.
We see this as an important opportunity to strengthen the relationship between our federations as workers everywhere seek to promote the right to decent work for all, irrespective of country.
One of the most amusing moments of our visit came during the meeting with Al-Alawi. Keep in mind that Bahrain is the smallest Arab country with a population of about 650,000, so when AFSCME Secretary-Treasurer Bill Lucy said his union represents 1.3 million members. Al-Alawi exclaimed, “Well then, you must be king!”
We also met and exchanged information, ideas and strategies with the Bahraini union leaders. We discussed trade union education, as well as the unions’ ability to influence public policy, how unions interact with governments, how to enforce ILO core labor standards, women’s empowerment and collective bargaining.
In addition, we met with representatives from the Migrant Workers Protection Society (MWPS), which primarily responds to the needs of women from South Asia and Southeast Asia employed as domestics in Bahrain.
Sweeney said of the young women’s plight:
Hundreds of thousands of migrant workers, mostly young women, move to the Gulf States each year in search of a better life and to support their families back at home. For countless numbers, the journey is long and expensive, and the final employment is a sad reflection of the promises that have been made. Press reports of the plight of many migrant women tell stories of abuse, both physical and psychological, sexual exploitation, poor working and living conditions, and the nonpayment or late payment of wages.
MWPS representatives told us that when domestic workers who run away because they no longer can endure their abusive situations, they are remanded to the authorities. No matter how horrendous their circumstances, they are convicted of being runaways and deported. A large red stamp on their passport indicates they have been told to leave the country.
When they return home, it is often assumed that because they were forcibly deported, they must have been working in the sex trade. They are discriminated against, and even their own families shun them. For more and more of these workers, suicide is becoming a resolution to an untenable situation. The GFBTU and the MWPS agreed to pursue future work together to help gain dignity and decent jobs for migrant workers.
On our final day, Hussain and Sweeney held a press conference at union headquarters, which generated widespread coverage.
Read previous coverage of the delegation’s visit to the Middle East here, here and here.
In addition to Sweeney and Lucy, the delegation included AFA-CWA International President Patricia Friend, IFPTE International President Greg Junemann, AFL-CIO Solidarity Center Executive Director Ellie Larson and Solidarity Center Middle East and North Africa Department Director Heba El-Shazli.
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