Asian Ex-pats Strike in Kuwait
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- Duration: 1:43
- Published: 30 Jul 2008
- Uploaded: 11 Aug 2011
- Author: NTDTV
WONG: Hundreds of ex-pat Asians have gone on strike in Kuwait. The mostly Bangladeshi workforce is asking for better pay and better working conditions for the thousands of Asians working here. STORY: The strike by cleaning workers started July 27. The state news agency KUNA said Kuwaiti officials met Bangladesh embassy officials on Sunday to discuss the workers' problems. According to state newspapers, workers had been promised 50 dinars per month, the equivalent of $190, but are being paid less than half that. The companies also subtract 10 dollars every month for a visa fee. [Mohammed Sheikh, Bangladeshi Laborer]: "They had initially agreed to give us 50 per month, but they only give us 20. I want now 50 dinars per month, with a paid flight ticket every two years and not to pay for the work permit." Al-Watan newspaper carried a photograph of a laborer holding a list ofdemands, which included raising salaries to 40 dinars a month and having aholiday every two years. Labor Ministry inspectors are to meet workers' representatives toreview their demands. Deputy Abdullah al-Roumi has said he would present a draft law to scrapKuwait's sponsorship system, which says expatriates must be sponsored by alocal employer to get a work permit. Expatriates, mostly Asians and Arabs, account for abouttwo-thirds of Kuwait's 3.2 million population. Annual inflation here hit 11.4 percent in April as high housing and food costs continued.
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