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Indian construction workers in Bahrain go on strike

DUBAI: Bahrain is grappling with a rash of strikes led by Indian construction workers who appear unwilling to work at existing wages. Nearly 2,500 workers went on strike on Saturday, demanding higher wages and better working conditions.

Most of them are involved in the construction of the $ 6 billion Durrat Al Bahrain, luxury housing project, 54 km from the capital Manama. Around 2,100 of employees who refused to work belong to the construction firm G.P. Zachariades (GPZ), while at least 300 are from the Mohsin Haji Ali Group.

These workers were allegedly detained in three labour camps after they decided to lead a protest march on Sunday to the Bahrain Labour Ministry. However, India’s Ambassador to Bahrain, Balkrishna Shetty told The Hindu over telephone that negotiations between the workers and their employers had commenced on Monday. The embassy, together with the Bahrain Labour Ministry, facilitated these talks after advising workers to refrain from the strike.

Analysts point out that workers are demanding higher wages because there is an acute shortage of manpower in Bahrain, where construction activity is at its peak. “There is more demand and less supply, and that is the basic cause that is driving up wages and causing strikes,” says Paul Sunderrajan, a partner in a Bahrain based construction company.

He said there has also been a large outflow of construction workers during the recent “amnesty” granted by the Bahraini government, which allowed illegal workers to leave the country without incurring any penalties. “It is now becoming difficult to attract workers from India, which itself is experiencing a construction boom, at the prevailing level of wages in Bahrain,” he said.

The intention of the government of India to fix minimum wages for unskilled workers in Bahrain at 100 Bahraini Dinars (around Rs. 10,000) has also apparently encouraged the demand for higher wages. However, Mr. Shetty said the mandatory minimum wage requirement would apply to contracts that would be signed from March 1 onwards.

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