A DEAL has been brokered to return 35 axed Bahraini Gulf Air employees whose services were not required under initial company restructure plans.
The agreement would see either the workers returned to newly-merged departments within the airline’s operations or presented with other amicable options.
The settlement was reached after 96 hours of talks and joint meetings between Labour Minister Jameel Humaidan and Gulf Air Group Holding Company chairman Zayed Al Zayani.
Mr Humaidan explained that, in agreement with the company, the options presented to the employees under the agreement would include providing alternative job opportunities in companies under the umbrella of Gulf Air Group Holding Company, or providing retirement offers to those whose years of service qualify them for retirement, or providing appropriate end-of-service offers to those who wished to leave.
For his part, Mr Al Zayani affirmed that the national cadres working in all companies under the holding company’s umbrella remained a matter of pride and all their efforts continued to be appreciated. He said the workforce’s ‘outstanding contributions’ had made an impact in strengthening the company’s position, in accordance with the goals and vision of the group.
Parliament’s public utilities and environment affairs committee chairman Bader Al Tamimi, who was amongst 17 MPs demanding that the dismissed Bahrainis be returned to the national carrier, said a decision was agreed upon after long, hard negotiations.
“We have been awake almost for the entire 96 hours trying to resolve the issues and it has involved negotiations with the ministry, Gulf Air and Gulf Air Trade Union.
“There are around 3,000 employees in the company. We’re not against restructure and lowering costs – but sacrificing Bahrainis is not an option.”
He believes the airline could be on a profitable course in the future if and when flights to Iraq, Syria and Iran were reinstated once international agreements were formalised.
“They are low-cost and profitable destinations in my opinion and, hopefully, they can be relaunched to allow the national airline to progress,” said Mr Al Tamimi. “There are also other administrative and financial matters that the company may need to address without having to consider cutting the number of Bahraini employees.”
The GDN earlier reported that the company, in a statement, expressed pride in its national cadres in all its affiliated companies.
It said investing in human capital was always a top priority and development plans continue to raise Bahrainisation rates and open opportunities for training and promotion to allow locals to assume leadership positions in the group.
Gulf Air noted that 169 Bahrainis had joined the companies affiliated with the group since the beginning of this year.
It also explained that as part of its strategy to integrate the group’s assets, the operations structure was revamped and some departments had been merged in all the companies under it, namely Gulf Air, Bahrain’s national carrier, Bahrain Airport Company, the operator and managing body of Bahrain International Airport, and the Gulf Aviation Academy, in implementation of plans aimed at enhancing efficiency and development.
The group affirmed that the restructuring process followed a careful and extensive study, during which operations were re-engineered and the services of some support departments cancelled.
This was being implemented in full compliance with the labour law in force in Bahrain, which obligated the company to compensate any employees whose jobs were cancelled and pay their dues in accordance with the regulations and laws, it pointed out.
mohammed@gdnmedia.com.bh
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