The age old worry of foreigners taking over all the jobs mostly seen in western countries is also becoming a part of Bahrain politics. The largest political bloc of Mp’s in Bahrain parliament is demanding much tougher measures in the face of an ever increasing influx
of foreigners. The Al-Wefac bloc cites an increasingly unfair competition between foreigners and local workers as an alarming situation where foreigners are willing to do the same jobs at a much rate leaving the locals feeling unwanted and unable to source the same jobs. This demand comes on the heels of a recent vote in favour of expatriates required to complete one whole year before being allowed to change their jobs.This new movement against foreign workers comes as a result of an increasing pressure by local Bahraini businessmen who felt dismayed at the recent announcement by the Labour minister, Majeed Alawi, who introduced a new law where foreign workers could change their jobs without consent from their employers at anytime.
Al-Wefac is carrying out studies of the labour market which will eventually submit its recommendations to the Government regarding labour market trends and conditions. An increasing worry for the mere 19% of the indigenous Bahraini work force suffering as a result of relaxing the rules on foreign workers is forcing more and more Bahraini businessmen to ask for government help. The present laws are considered too lenient where a foreign worker could easily train at one company for a few months and then move on to a different company and pass on all the benefits of the original training to the second company. The new tougher laws demanding at least a 1 year term to be completed by foreign workers before moving on is expected to allow the first companies to be able to reap some reward for their hard work.
| Next > |
|---|