Muscat: A top Manpower Ministry official has urged striking labourers at the Muscat International Airport project to get back to work even as the ministry officials are busy negotiating a solution for their demands.
“For more transparency to discuss the demands of the workers, we have even involved embassy representatives to talk to the labourers,” Salim Bin Saeed Al Badi, Director-General of Workers’ Welfare at the Ministry of Manpower, told Gulf News Sunday evening after marathon efforts to end the strike that has stalled the airport expansion work.
There is a major misunderstanding between the management and the workers about calculating the overtime, he said. Following the new labour regulations of 45-hours of work in a five-day week, the workers have demanded overtime as they work six days a week to complete the much delayed airport project.
Al Badi said that initially on Thursday 2,050 workers went on strike at the Bechtel-Enka-Bahwan Engineering Company’s joint venture that handles the new terminal building work.
“We promptly formed a team with the royal Oman Police (ROP) and rushed to the site to find out causes of the strike and work out a solution,” he said.
He revealed that initially the workers agreed to the formula presented to them for calculating overtime but later they refused to join work, demanding more overtime than explained to them under the Omani Labour Law.
“We have been trying to persuade them to get back to work while we work out an acceptable solution but workers are insisting on their demand and not resuming work,” he said, hoping that continuous negotiations would resolve the issue.
“We would also like to remind workers that they have the right to improve their terms and conditions by negotiations and peaceful strike according to the Omani Labour Law but they must stop their action once negotiations have started,” he said.
