OpEdNews » KUWAITI KALEIDESCOPE: May Day 2008, Elections, and other Insights

As dockworkers in both the USA and in Iraq struck for a few hours on May1 against the ongoing Iraq War, Kuwaiti witnessed May Day demonstrations, too. However, these strikes for workers' rights in Kuwait were carried out by foreign laborers in a land that has been rife in non-payments to thousands of laborers-i.e. laborers who keep the city clean, help run families of wealthy Kuwaitis, and keep their businesses running every day.

The May 2, 2008 FRIDAY TIMES front page story and headline focused on the unfair treatment and lack of pay for hundreds of Bangladeshi cleaners, who have not been paid for many months. Meanwhile, their contractor and the Kuwait government ministries have allowed hundreds of these laborers to find that their expired visas and Civil I.Ds have been expired since 2008. This situation puts them all in jeopardy of arrest. Nonetheless, these laborers chose May Day to once again protest publicly.

These (mostly female) cleaners had protested earlier in the week, too, in front of the Ministry of Education, and that ministry had paid their firm immediately the back-pay through March 2008.

Having still not received that pay from their contractors, these Bangladeshi protesters on May 1 once again peacefully protested and held a sit in at the entrance to the Kuwait Society of Human Rights (KSHR).

Journalist Naware Fattahova notes, "Laborers in Kuwait, however, have limited rights and often face difficulty in ensuring their salaries are paid on time and their residencies kept current."

She adds, "The Bangledeshi workers, for instance, work from 4:30am to 2:00pm, and they receive KD 19 [appx. US$73] per month. A few work from 4:30am up to midnight, and receive KD 30 [appx. US$110] per month, earning about 700 fils [about $2.35] per day."

The concerned Secretary General of the KSHR, Amer Al-Tamimi, stated that his agency helped the protestors write letters to the Ministry of Education and has contacted the Interior Ministry for immediate help in these matters.

Speaking on behalf of the protesting laborers, Muneer Misleh Aldeen, stated, "About 20-25 of us live in one room. We sleep on three or four floors bed [bunk bed], and some even on floor next to each other. Although our contract expired, the company still asks us to work. They are keeping our passports, and our IDs expired. We only demand our financial rights and want to go back to Bangladesh."

Many of these cleaners were lured to Kuwait with promises that they would receive nearly four times their current actual pay by ruthless recruiters and bad company representatives, owned by Kuwaitis.

It is in this context that it has to be pointed out that this current situation, whereby the Kuwait ministries have not renewed visas in a timely fashion and whereby contract rigging is widespread in Kuwait has led many workers in this land to seek employment elsewhere or to flee for their homes.

Let me explain. Therefore, many people who had never had any intention of working in Iraq, sometimes finally agree to do so. Under duress of not receiving the pay or job they were offered prior to coming to Kuwait and after pressure from their Kuwaiti contractors, some of them agree to serve U.S. military personnel as subcontracted laborers in neighboring Iraq. This abuse had gone on for over five years.

Note: In other words, who wouldn't sometimes gamble on working (and surviving) at a Taco Bell situated on a U.S. military facility in Iraq during a war--whereby the pay is 50 to 150 percent better--i.e. rather than to hang around Kuwait looking for pay months-and-months on end as these poor cleaners have had to do?

KUWAITI MAY 2008 ELECTIONS & THE PRESS

On Wednesday this past week, a dust-filled sky turned to an astounding orange one just hours after another tiny tornado hit Kuwait. There were many residents wondering if at that moment Armageddon had arrived.

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http://the-teacher.blogspot.com/

"I am from Kansas so I also use the pseudonym 'Kansas' when I write and publish. I keep two blogs--one with blogger and one with GNN. My writings range from reviews to editorials or to travel observations. I also make recommendations related to policy--having both a strong background in teaching foreign languages and degrees in teaching in history and the social sciences. As a midwesterner, I also write on religion and living out ones faith whether it be as a Christian, Muslim or Buddhist perspective."

On my own home page, I also provide information for language learners and travelers http://www.geocities.com/eslkevin/ , http://the-teacher.blogspot.com/ & http://alone.gnn.tv/

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5 comments

KEVIN STODA has been blessed to have either traveled in or worked in nearly 100 countries on five continents over the past two and a half decades. He sees himself as a peace educator and have been a promoter of good economic and social development--making him an enemy of my homelands humongous spending and its focus on using weapons to try and solve global issues."I am from Kansas so I also use the pseudonym 'Kansas' when I write and publish. I...

to see more of bio, click on member name
ALONEKEVIN STODA has been blessed to have either traveled in or worked in nearly 100 countries on five continents over the past two and a half decades. He sees himself as a peace educator and have been a promoter of good economic and social development--making him an enemy of my homelands humongous spending and its focus on using weapons to try and solve global issues."I am from Kansas so I also use the pseudonym 'Kansas' when I write and publish. I...

to see more of bio, click on member name

Note on labor back on the USA side of the globe.

Tentative Agreement Reached for
Tri-Counties Regional Center Workers Rally and Press Conference scheduled for Saturday, May 3 is canceled.

May 2, 2008 – SEIU Local 721 and the Tri-Counties Regional Center (TCRC) have reached a tentative agreement. The informational picket and press conference that was to be held in Santa Barbara outside of the TCRC board of directors meeting tomorrow has been canceled.

“This contract was not given to us, we earned it. The unity and solidarity that the members displayed was instrumental to our achieving this agreement and the support from the community and the people who we provide services for has been overwhelming positive” said Alice Forsythe, Chapter President and bargaining team member.

TCRC union members will be holding meetings and will vote on the tentative agreement at all six offices the week of May 5. Full contract details will be released upon ratification of the contract.

by ALONE (162 articles, 1 quicklinks, 4 diaries, 420 comments) on Tuesday, May 6, 2008 at 12:06:38 PM

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...

I realize that you consider yourself an expert on the "tribals" now, but you don't seem to understand that some Kuwaitis are "tribals" (Bedu) and some aren't. There are well-known Kuwaiti "tribes" like Al-Ajmi, Al-Enezi, Al-Mutairi, etc.; any Kuwaiti can recognize whether a name is Bedu or not. Even among Bedus, some vote for ideological reasons and not solely for someone from their tribe - although since they can choose ten names, they can probably do both. (And if Ted Kennedy were running for office, wouldn't most of his clan vote for him?)

The people who vote for someone like Dr. Waleed Tabtabaie aren't voting out of any tribal affiliation; the people who vote for "Islamists" vote for them because they want an Islamic government. If you find out about the "Islamist" candidates, you'll find that they're quite different from your average preacher in the "religious right" in the U.S.; for one thing, many of them are highly educated, often with PhDs. They have a lot of support, including (maybe especially) among women - not because these women are ignorant and duped, but because they want a society run by Islamic guidelines.

I'm sure you're aware that the news carried in the English newspapers is geared towards foreigners and doesn't give you real insight into Kuwaiti society.--see the Teacher

by ALONE (162 articles, 1 quicklinks, 4 diaries, 420 comments) on Tuesday, May 6, 2008 at 12:08:00 PM

Yes and no --on all counts.

Yes and no --on all counts.

For example, the KUWAIT TIMES is run, I believe by a man outside the mainstream but who might be more oriented to the islamicists than the status quo pro USA ARAB TIMES.

Note, that I was summarizing young writers who interpret their family members persuading them to vote for cousin or family who is supported by islamists. This means one sees a connection between tribes, family and islamists--which your narration ignores. (Yes, one can argue that islamists are pro government, too.)

Anyway, the good thing about the three local English language papers is that they all do better than 80% of U.S. dailies.

For example, the Diwaniya section summarizes the other 8 kuwaiti papers, every day. Imagine if U.S.A papers had such a roundup!

We could then tell the newspapers apart--not all printing the same story lines most of the times.

by ALONE (162 articles, 1 quicklinks, 4 diaries, 420 comments) on Tuesday, May 6, 2008 at 12:08:39 PM

Anonymous replied...

Anonymous said...

Well, I usually read the Arab Times if I read one, but I agree that it has much better coverage of international news than the average U.S. newspaper, including major ones like the NY Times or Washington Post.

But it's also true that the English newspapers here cover different stories than the Arabic newspapers; as for local news, when they do cover the same story, the coverage is very different.

Your point about voters asking their fathers, brothers and cousins for recommendations before voting is an important one, because I've seen news reports lamenting the fact that women ask their husbands and fathers. As one Kuwaiti woman told me when I mentioned that, "Of course! that's Kuwait... The men ask their fathers, uncles and brothers, too." It's a very small country, where it's likely that you or some relative knows the candidate personally (or members of his or her family), so it's normal that they ask, and that such personal information is a factor in deciding whom to vote for.

by ALONE (162 articles, 1 quicklinks, 4 diaries, 420 comments) on Tuesday, May 6, 2008 at 12:09:34 PM

It is not just a phenomena of asking famiy whom to vote for.

It is not just a phenomena of asking family whom to vote for. The problem is that peer pressure and family pressure and tribal pressure are apparently higher here for many young adults than in many arenas outside of Asia.

(1) That is youth are not just told whom to vote for, they are pressured. They also are pressured with things like family and tribal honor.

(2)They are pressured in the same way that peers in the USA an elsewhere are by peergroups to join one fad or another.

(3)They are outright told that they will be expelled or marked as a black sheep it they take such and such position.

(4)They are warned "Better not to vote at all than to vote against us and our chosen reps."

by ALONE (162 articles, 1 quicklinks, 4 diaries, 420 comments) on Tuesday, May 6, 2008 at 12:10:33 PM