Indian embassy in Bahrain takes up workers' case

The Indian embassy in Bahrain will lodge a complaint with the Bahrain Labour Court against a local company that has allegedly not paid its workers for nine months.

"The Indian Embassy will file an official complaint against the company at the Labour Court with the help of its lawyer," the Gulf Daily News Saturday quoted India's Ambassador to Bahrain, Mohan Kumar, as saying.

The ambassador's comments came after 30 labourers employed with the Bramco Group, a Bahraini conglomerate engaged in a host of industries from mining to marbel supply, attended the open house of the embassy Friday and lodged their complaint.

They spoke on behalf of over 350 of their co-workers from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Thailand the Philippines.

The workers had also staged a protest over their demands at their labour accommodation at Askar in southeastern Bahrain and have threatened to go on strike again next week if their demands were not met.

The ambassador was also informed that 53 workers have already resigned from the company due to this and wanted to return back to their homes.

The ambassador advised the workers to stay in their accommodation till the embassy resolved the issue.

Lawyer Bushra Mayoof of the embassy said that she would file the complaint Sunday but added that it might take up to two months to get a ruling on the case.

"We will file the case against the company and the judgement could take two months," she said, adding that the company should resolve the issue as the court ruling would go against it.

The Gulf Daily News had earlier quoted the company's general manager Rashid Al Maloud as saying that the company had suffered losses worth half a million Bahraini dinars after its workers downed tools for two days.

Denying that the workers had not been paid for nine months, Maloud said only some workers had gone without pay for four months and that took because they took salary advances.