Bahrain has the most advantageous labour law in the Gulf, yet much remains to be done in terms of trade union rights and protection for its widely discriminated migrant worker population, especially migrant domestic workers, who face all manners of abuse (1). The much anticipated adoption of the new labour law would represent a significant step forward. Salman Jaffar Al Mahfoodh, general secretary of the young and dynamic General Federation of Bahrain Trade Unions (GFBTU), explains how the Federation is managing to recruit new members, especially women and young people. He also outlines its strategy to better defend migrant workers.
What are the main challenges facing the Bahraini trade union movement in terms of trade union rights?
Our first challenge is to fight for the right to organise in the public sector. For the moment, by virtue of the Royal Decree of 2002, only the private sector can be unionised. We have filed a complaint with the ILO on this matter. In spite of the ban, we have nonetheless formed six trade unions in the governmental sector, but they have not received official recognition. But they are not officially recognised and some trade unionists suffer harassment and unfair treatment.
Our second challenge relates to the right to strike, which does not exist in a wide range of sectors that the authorities consider "essential" but that do correspond to the ILO definition of essential services. We have also filed a complaint with the ILO in this regard.
As regards our third challenge, whilst it is good that we have the most favourable labour law in the region, its application is undermined by the practices of the government and employers. We think the problem comes from the fact that there is more than one centre of power. To give an example, two years ago, the tripartite committee drafted a new labour law. But the Economic Development Bureau (EDB) amended the draft without consulting the tripartite committee. At times, the EDB is more powerful than the government and has decision making power. The business community has a lot of sway.
How has Bahrain been affected by the global economic and financial crisis?
Compared with other Gulf countries, the impact on Bahrain has been weaker. Two sectors, banking and construction, have, however, been affected. In the banking sector, it is the public workers that have suffered the most job losses. In construction, the impact has not only been on locals but also on migrants, who form the majority of the workforce in this sector. The government is trying to claim that the crisis hasn’t affected us, but we can testify to substantial job losses in these two sectors. The banking employees received redundancy pay, but it has been a real blow for those in the age group that are too old to find another job and still too young to take retirement. In construction, you have no right to compensation if you lose your job, and many migrant workers have had to go back to their countries.
You have a very active recruitment policy. What is your strategy?
Two months ago we had 17,000 members, and we now have 25,000. Ten new unions have been founded in 2010. Our aim is not only to raise our membership figures but also to focus on the quality, with active unions that pay their full levies and fight hard to defend their members’ rights.
What are you doing to attract young people?
It’s true that our new members are mainly young people. They are attracted because they realise that the union can help to improve their pay, their working conditions, etc. They have also seen that the GFBTU has managed to get workers reinstated that had been unfairly dismissed. It is concrete results like these that mean we are respected and considered credible actors in the area of workers’ rights, which attracts young people.
And what are you doing to attract women?
In the beginning, in 2004, we only had 5% women. Now, 17% of our members are women. There are two main reasons for this increase. Firstly, our trade union movement is working hard to defend equality in the workplace and to combat discrimination in terms of pay, bonuses, training and promotion opportunities. In addition, the government authorities, backed by the King’s wife, have launched an active policy to build women’s capacities, and our trade union is involved in this initiative. Secondly, during the tripartite committee discussions to draft a new labour law, the GFBTU insisted a great deal on securing as much progress as possible as regards equality for women (such as maternity leave and measures against discrimination). This concrete fight for equality encourages women to affiliate, as they know we are fighting for their rights.
Migrant workers represent approximately 77% of the active population. What is your union’s policy regarding these workers?
Bahrain was the first country in the region to grant migrant workers the right to organise, regardless of their nationality. Bahrain was also the first country to abolish the "Kafala" (sponsorship) system in force in the region. Its banning is a positive measure, allowing foreign workers to change jobs without having to ask for their former employers’ consent. Migrant workers have equal rights within our Federation and we have an active policy to recruit them. We have organised numerous seminars and activities for migrant workers. Despite the government’s opposition, we held an international seminar on migrant workers’ rights in 2006, with the support of the former ICFTU, Solidarity Center, the ILO, and Building and Woodworkers’ International (BWI), the sector that employs the most migrants in Bahrain. We disregarded the government’s refusal, overcame the difficulties, and invited various trade unionists from countries such as Sri Lanka, the Philippines, etc. We paved the way, and now Kuwait has also held a seminar of this kind.
We make no differentiation; we want to defend all workers’ rights, Bahrainis and migrants alike. But it isn’t easy to convince migrant workers to join a union, there is the language barrier and, above all, they fear losing their jobs. Nevertheless, we now have ten trade unions in the construction sector (2), with an overwhelming majority of migrants. These unions have joined together in a committee to set up a sectoral union, even though only unions at company level are authorised.
In February 2010, we signed a cooperation agreement with the ITUC on a new project aimed at improving migrants’ rights and reducing poverty among workers as a whole in Bahrain (3).
Are you working with unions in the sending countries to inform migrants of their rights prior to their departure?
We have a bilateral agreement with the trade union federation of Sri Lanka. Unfortunately, this agreement has not yet translated into concrete action on the ground. As a Bahraini federation, we ourselves do not have the power to work in the migrant workers’ countries of origin. Efforts are still needed to make this agreement produce concrete results.
We are also working on cooperation proposals with unions from Kerala in India and with the GEFONT confederation in Nepal. It’s very hard work reaching migrants, they have to be in touch with a union in their country of origin and then this union needs to have the resources to provide them with the necessary information and education. And when they get to Bahrain they have to join our Federation so that we can make contact with them and inform them about their rights. Many are illiterate so it is not easy to give them access to better information about their rights, but we hope to see a strengthening of this bilateral cooperation between trade unions.
Migrant domestic workers are particularly exploited and exposed to many abuses. How can you help them?
There are some 80,000, from India, the Philippines, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia and Bangladesh. They are not organised; they are completely excluded from the labour law as it now stands. Like everywhere else in the region, domestic work is considered a family matter. Of course we would like to be able to organise them! In the tripartite committee that drew up the new draft labour law, we insisted a great deal on ensuring that domestic workers enjoy rights at work, covering pay, for example, or working hours and the minimum time off per week. The draft law is now in the hands of the Parliament. If it is adopted, it will help us a great deal in defending domestic workers.
For the time being, whenever we receive a complaint from a domestic worker, we cooperate with the Labour Ministry and the Migrant Workers Protection Society (MWPS) to try to defend her, to recover her passport, her unpaid wages, to help her get back to her country (4).
The international trade union movement is campaigning for the adoption next June of a new ILO Convention and Recommendation that would finally give domestic workers recognition and protect their labour rights (5). What is Bahrain’s position in this respect?
Initially, Bahrain was in favour of the Convention and the Recommendation. But by virtue of an agreement between the countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council (Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait), whereby they committed to speaking with one voice at the ILO, the other neighbouring countries managed to change the Bahraini government’s position last June in favour of only adopting a Recommendation. As defenders of workers’ rights, we are campaigning for the adoption of a Convention and Recommendation and are still hoping to convince our leaders; it’s a very hard battle.
Bahrain has long been considered a beacon of democracy in a Gulf region dominated by autocracy. Over recent months, however, in the run-up to elections, the wave of arrests, allegations of torture and attacks on freedom of opinion and expression are raising serious concerns(6). How are you dealing with these problems?
We are working with civil society as a whole; we are building alliances to defend human rights and workers’ rights, of course, which are our chief concern. We are trying to tackle these new challenges but we have to be very careful. We have to act in a very objective manner, to be able counter accusations that our Federation is politicised if it gets involved in human rights issues. We hope Bahrain will get back on the road to progress, although we sadly have to admit that this is unfortunately not the case at the moment. We really hope to see an improvement.
At the last ITUC Congress in June, the appeal made by the regional group of Arab countries for a stronger ITUC presence, through its Amman office, was heard. At the beginning of November, you hosted a regional meeting on trade union rights. What were the outcomes of this meeting?
It’s true that at the ITUC Congress in Vancouver, our main demand was linked to the terrible deficit in terms of trade union rights in our region. As a regional group, we asked for a strengthening of the ITUC regional office in Amman, to help us advance the cause of trade union rights in the region. At the beginning of November, we held a regional trade union meeting here in Bahrain, under the auspices of the ITUC. We decided to launch a work programme to promote freedom of association in Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait, as well as in countries of the region where trade union rights are totally forbidden at the moment, such as Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. In our capacity as a subregional Arab group, as is also the case with the subregional groups for the Arab countries of North Africa and those in the Middle East, our prime objective at the level of the Gulf subregion is to gather information and pass it on to the ITUC, coordinating with trade unions in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, as well as with the consultative workers’ committees in Saudi Arabia. We are also going to campaign for our countries’ ratification of the ILO Conventions. ILO Convention 87 has not yet been ratified here in Bahrain and the right to collective bargaining is still not recognised.
Have you any other needs you would like the ITUC to meet?
We also need technical assistance to help us ensure respect for the new labour law, which we hope will be adopted very soon, such as technical assistance regarding social protection.
In addition, a year ago, we held a trade union conference on the impact of the global financial crisis. But two years after this crisis arose, and one year after this conference, we need to update our analysis of the current impact on the Gulf region, so that we can discuss solutions and demands in line with the current situation.
Interview by Natacha David
(3) In February 2010, the ITUC and the GFBTU signed a cooperation agreement for the implementation of the "Trade Union Outreach to Migrant Workers" project. With the support of the TUC(UK), the aim is to improve migrants’ rights and reduce poverty among workers as a whole in Bahrain. The project consists in providing information and services to migrant workers, to organise them in unions and promote their involvement in trade union structures. The GFBTU is also working to promote a global, rights-based approach to migration through social dialogue with the government and is campaigning for the application of the ILO and UN Conventions regarding migrants’ rights. The GFBTU has also committed to building alliances with trade unions in other countries as well as with other civil society organisation defending migrants’ rights.
(4) Migrant Workers Protection Society (MWPS)
(5) See the interview with Luc Demaret (ACTRAV-ILO), Domestic work: «Putting an end to exclusion and exploitation»
(6) For more information see the site of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights
Also see the Amnesty International reports and those of Human Rights Watch
