KUWAIT CITY, Feb 14: The Labor Sector of the Ministry of Social Affairs recently summoned officials of cleaning companies and representatives of the laborers, in the presence of the concerned embassy representatives, after receiving reports of the intention of the cleaning laborers to take part in a demonstration demanding raise in salaries from KD 60 to KD 90, reports Al-Mustaqbal daily.

The Ministry warned the laborers against taking part in the demonstration as the Minister of Labor can revise or raise salaries only after five years and not before that, according to the Labor law issued in 2010.

On the other hand, the building allocated for sheltering expatriate laborers who suffered problems with their sponsors, is in the process of completion and will be handed over to the Ministry by the end of next March. The building is said to have the capacity of accommodating more than 700 laborers.

In another development, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor Mohammad Ali Al-Kandari praised in Kuwait on Tuesday the pivotal and humanitarian role of the International Migration Organization (IOM) in combating human trafficking and labor issues, as well as its constructive cooperation with the Ministry and relevant agencies.

Al-Kandari said, during a meeting with Minister Plenipotentiary and regional adviser for North Africa and the Middle East and countries of Arabian Gulf Hassan Abdel Moneim, who is taking part in the opening of the regional session on organized crime in Kuwait, that cooperation between the Ministry and the organization resulted in the legislation of several laws pertinent to international migration and human rights.

He pointed to the cooperation of the Ministry and the IOM in many events, workshops and courses that contribute to providing support to the staff of the Ministry in the areas of human rights and employment.
For his part, Abdel Moneim extolled the distinguished relationship between the IOM and the Government of the State of Kuwait, valuing the serious and promising steps the government was taking to develop and enact human rights laws, continued cooperation of the ministry to train government staff, fighting various methods of trafficking in human beings and its attention to labor issues.