Federation officials told the Tribune yesterday that their concerns would be on the agenda of the meeting of the ILO committee on free workers’ association.
“Cases in various countries will be discussed but we were told that Bahrain would be included. We have received assurance that our concerns would be on the agenda of the meeting,” federation board member Abdulla Hussein said.
Hussein said the federation had communicated to the ILO current problems concerning some government agencies and the construction sector, particularly following a series of strikes.
He said they also sought a follow-up with the ILO on the disagreements between the federation and the government on the issue of allowing public sector workers to form unions.
“Last November the ILO ruled in federation’s favour stating that public sector workers have the right to form unions like other workers.
“This has been communicated to the Bahraini authorities but there has been no concrete action so far,” he said.
The federation and the Civil Service Bureau have contested the issue in court.
Hussein said the problems facing public sector unions particularly with the recent case of postal workers who were suspended showed the need to clarify the status of public sector unions.
“The Postal Workers’ Union office-bearers should not have been suspended because of their union activities. They were stopped from expressing view freely,” Hussein said, referring to the case of two postal union officers who were served with 10-day suspension notices.
The federation is closely monitoring the situation in the construction sector after several strikes in the past two months.
Workers, mostly expatriates, protested against low wages and poor living conditions, among others.
