EMPLOYEES at Bahrain’s only aluminium smelter have been exempt from showing up to work if they are elected board members at the country’s two union federations.
Alba has four senior employees on the executive board of the Bahrain Free Labour Unions Federation (Al Hurr) and the General Federation of Bahrain Trade Unions (GFBTU).
According to Bahrain’s Labour Law, unionists who occupy board positions in the federations should be paid in full and are not required to be at work in order to engage in full-fledged union activities.
However, senior management at Alba objected to this when the men were elected to their positions in April.
Following negotiations, and intervention from the Labour and Social Development Ministry, the company has agreed to excuse the men from work.
The decision, according to union leaders, was among a number of agreements reached with Alba’s management during a key meeting held at the company’s premises in Askar on Tuesday.
The company has two unions: the Alba Labour Union (ALU), which operates under Al Hurr, and the Alba Trade Union (ATU), which operates under the GFBTU.
Three members from ALU, Ali Binali, Bassem Al Kuwaitan and Abdulla Al Moaraj, and one member from ATU, Mohammed Al Saad, are on the 15-member executive council of their respective federations.
“It is not that these men are being paid while not working, they have full-fledged responsibilities in the federation which is time consuming,” said Al Hurr labour, education and training head Hamad Al Sabaei.
“We are glad that the negotiations were successful and the Alba management agreed to this, and the men have been released from their duties with effect from (yesterday).”
Mr Al Sabaei explained that replacements for all four men will be taken care of by the company’s management.
“We also came to the agreement that ALU chairman, Yasser Abdulla Hujairi, will also be relieved from duty as and when required, again with an aim to contribute towards employees’ benefits,” he added.
“We also agreed that there should be a proper mechanism guiding the communication between the management and unionists.”
GFBTU secretary general Hassan Al Halwachi, meanwhile, welcomed the “flexibility” of the Alba management in addressing the issue – citing the need for more active dialogue between unionists and managements.
Dialogue
“During the meeting, we also agreed to meet once every two weeks or once a month to follow up on all issues, along with the agenda items that were postponed since early this year,” he said.
“We also highlighted that there should be dialogue and respect for trade unions so that rights of workers will be represented and achieved.
“Another decision taken was to deduct the membership fee from employees’ salaries to be transferred to the union’s bank account.”
Alba’s deputy chief executive Ali Al Baqali separately met the Al Hurr and GFBTU teams on Tuesday.
In a statement, he said the groups reached common understanding with the management and set a mechanism in place “to close-out pending matters for the benefit” of both Alba and the unions.
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