Kuwait Emiri Court denies deal with striking workers

The court of Kuwait’s Emir has denied it had contacts with the leaders of the Petroleum and Petrochemical Workers Union to call off a strike that started on Sunday. “Deputy Minister of the Emiri Diwan Affairs Shaikh Ali Jarrah Al Sabah yesterday emphatically denied allegations that the Director of the Emir’s Bureau had conducted contacts with leaders of the Petroleum and Petrochemical Workers Union,” a statement carried by Kuwait News Agency (Kuna) said.

“The minister categorically denied the claims that the Diwan Director conveyed to the union leaders “an order by the Emir Shaikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah to stop the strike,” the statement said.

Reports that have been published in this regard are totally false, the Deputy Minister said as he called “for abstention from circulating such false reports or trying to engage the high esteemed status of the Emir, the official news agency reported.

Appreciation

Late on Tuesday, the oil union announced the resumption of work by all workers yesterday morning after they decided to end their three-day strike “in appreciation of the Emir.”

The Oil and Petrochemical Industries Workers Confederation said in a statement their strike was “overwhelmingly successful,” through which all workers showed their “ability to affect the production process”, Kuna reported.

The confederation said it “entrusted the Emir with the protection of the rights of the employees in the oil sector” and affirmed that “workers who were on strike would not face any consequences because of their participation in the industrial action”.