KUWAIT CITY, Oct 24, (AFP): Kuwait Airways Corp. (KAC) employees returned to work Monday hours after launching a strike to demand a pay increase, following a deal with the government, the trade union’s head said.
“Yes. We have agreed to suspend the strike for one month,” after reaching an agreement with the government to raise the wages of KAC employees by 30 percent, Abdullah al-Hajeri told AFP.
The announcement came after the union met with acting communications minister Salem Al-Othainah and senior KAC officials who agreed to the workers’ demands.
Hundreds of the flag carrier workers had began the work stoppage in the morning demanding a pay increase after they claimed that authorities failed to fulfill an earlier promise to raise their wages.
State-owned Kuwait Airways cancelled 10 flights and delayed several others. The strike, however, excluded flights to the Saudi cities of Jeddah and Medina, where thousands are due next week for the annual Muslim hajj pilgrimage.
The loss-making privatisation-bound KAC operates around 25 flights daily using its old fleet of 15 Airbus and two Boeing jets.
Kuwait has been hit by a wave of industrial action amid a major political showdown between the opposition and government in the wake of an alleged corruption scandal involving several MPs and possibly state officials.
Two weeks ago, more than 3,000 customs employees stopped work for two days demanding a pay raise and called off the strike after government promises to meet their demands.
Kuwait’s public sector employs close to 80 percent of the 360,000-strong workforce of Kuwaiti nationals.
The country has about 1.7 million foreign workers, mostly employed by the private sector.
The country, with 1.2 million Kuwaiti citizens, is tax-free and offers a cradle-to-grave welfare system with public services and fuel offered either free or at heavily subsidised prices.
Earlier the government had agreed to increase the basic salary of all Kuwaiti employees by 30 percent but failed to deliver, said Hajeri, adding that the union has about 4,000 members, half of them nationals.
The union is currently demanding raises for nationals and later it will make similar demands for expatriates, Hajeri said. It was unclear how many foreign workers have joined the strike.
Hajeri said the response to the strike call “has been excellent.”
KAC management however had held the trade union responsible for the consequences of the strike, accusing the union of failure to fulfill an agreement reached early October that requires the strike to be put off until November 3.
In a written statement, KAC said the management has agreed to most demands made by the union although implementing the agreement required some time.