OFW 'work stoppage' in Saudi resolved - POLO

A Saudi Arabian contracting company has denied the report of a migrant workers’ rights group that Filipino workers staged a work stoppage last Feb. 6 to protest the company’s alleged unfair labor practices. Labor Attaché Rustico Dela Fuente, head of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Riyadh, also denied that workers went on strike but he added that around 30 OFWs and employees of different nationalities refused to go to work last Feb. 6 in the company’s Taif site. “One-day work stoppage lang (It was a one-day work stoppage only). The management talked to the workers and they are back to work now," he told GMANews.TV In a letter sent to GMANews.TV via e-mail, the Al-Arrab Contracting Company Ltd. (ACC) said there were no strikes staged in any of its sites, as reported by the overseas labor advocacy group Migrante International. However, the company confirmed that it received a petition on February 6 from 30 Filipino workers regarding labor-related concerns. Dated February 2, a copy of the petition released by Migrante said the workers were complaining about unreleased salaries, non-compliance with the agreed salary release date on the first week of the month; and non-payment of overtime wages. The petition also said the company did not comply with Saudi Arabia’s standard salary rates, failed to process some of the workers’ residence permits, put them in unsafe working environments, and subjected them to maltreatment. Migrante said more than 200 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) staged a work stoppage after the company and the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh failed to act on their petition. The strikers were composed mainly of engineers, supervisors and construction workers in the company’s three sites in Riyadh, as well as its sites in Hofuf and Taif, according to Migrante. According to the ACC, however, the issues raised by the workers were resolved “on the spot" and their work was not disrupted. Among the resolved issues was the implementation of an automated payment system to ensure that the workers would receive their salaries on time. The company denied some of the allegations from the OFWS, saying a recent salary scale survey by a “leading international firm" indicated that ACC exceeded the market rates for many jobs. It added: “ACC strictly complies with all labor laws including those related to overtime accrued." Dela Fuente said POLO officials talked to ACC’s general manager last Feb. 13 and received assurance that the workers’ concerns would be addressed. Riyadh-based welfare officer Atty. Cesar Chavez Jr. said in a separate interview that the company has agreed to release delayed salaries and regularize the release dates of subsequent salaries by March. Overtime wages will also be paid in accordance with Saudi’s labor laws, according to Chavez. However, he added that employees holding managerial positions may not be entitled to such compensation. GMANews.TV called the telephone numbers provided by ACC but their phone lines were either busy or the calls went unanswered. ACC is a construction and development services company that was listed as one of the top 225 international contractors in the world in 2009 by the Engineering News Record. It has 5,200 employees, about 800 of whom are Filipinos, according to Chavez. As of October last year, government figures showed that over 900,000 OFWs were deployed in the Middle East, making it the top destination of OFWs in 2009. An estimated 200,000 Filipinos are working in Saudi Arabia. – YA/GMANews.TV