Unions And Strikes In Qatar
 

The Emir has just issued a decree permitting the existence of unions and industrial action/strikes in the State of Qatar.

How many of you think that Qatar Airways will somehow be "excluded" from this ruling.............................?

C'mon AAB cant be that bad. Im sure he has a soft side to him. Just look at his pic on the QR website. So innocent looking. Who knows, he might somehow have some ownership of the union.

Well I don't know if that will happen at Qatar Airways just yet. Doha is slowly becoming westernized but still far behind Dubai. Maybe after Akbar looses some money because of his displeased employees will he think about giving his people a union. Because if he does right now, guaranteed there will be the biggest strike in the middle east LOL!:)

Well if AAB wants to commit managerial suicide he'll allow it. He'd be out of qatar so quick his little feet wouldnt touch the ground. Chances are similar to him not firing a cabin crew within a week. Hence slim!

Qatar a New Democratized Country
 

Will Qatar Airways ever be a..........?


Emir issues new labour law; allows workers' associations

DOHA: In a pioneering move, the Emir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani yesterday issued a new Labour Law which replaces the one adopted in 1962 and gives Qatari workers the right to form associations with legal status that will work under the umbrella of a Qatar General Union of Workers.
The law also provides a comprehensive legal framework for the protection of the rights of all workers - nationals and expatriates - with special emphasis on their terms of employment, working conditions, health and safety and seeks to penalise erring employers.

Among other measures, the law provides for the setting up of a Work Inspection mechanism within the Labour Department to be manned by officials with quasi-judicial powers to conduct surprise checks at worksites. This is the first time that a GCC country has taken the bold step of giving legal sanctity to labour associations. The law provides for the formation of labour associations at three levels: 1. Workers' committees within individual organisations and establishments, 2. General committees of workers in the same profession or industry, and 3. The Qatar General Union of Workers.

The Labour Law guarantees the independence of these associations which would have legal status to take care of the welfare of their members and represent in matters related to collective labour affairs. The law provides Qatari employees in the non-essential sectors the right to engage in collective bargaining and the settlement of collective labour disputes through arbitration as stipulated in the provisions.

Issued yesterday, the Law No 14 of 2004 replaces the Law No 3 of 1962, and will come into effect six months from the date of its publication in the official gazette.

The Minister of Civil Service Affairs and Housing H E Sheikh Falah bin Jassem bin Jabor Al Thani hailed the law as "heralding a new era in which Qatar is seeking to cope with the rapid changes in the economic and social domains." He said the law grants equal rights to men and women regarding wages, training and promotion opportunities, and ensures the rights of working women.

Among important provisions of the new law are stipulations of working hours, holidays, leaves, workplace safety norms, payments and end of service benefits. All employment contracts, the law says, should be written and should be authenticated by the Labour Department and issued in triplicate. One copy of the contract will be kept by the department for record.

If an employee leaves at the end of a contract period, the employer must issue (if the employee so seeks) an experience certificate specifying the period of employment, nature of work and salary drawn and must return all documents and certificates to the employee.

End-of-service benefits, the law says, will be payable in cases where the employee has worked for a period of one year or more. Such end-of-service benefits have to be agreed upon by the two parties and should not be lower than three weeks salary for every year of service and shall be paid according to the period of work. The last basic salary drawn will be taken as the yardstick for calculating the end-of-service benefits.

Besides, the Eid and national holidays, the law provides for three days of casual leave. The law also makes it mandatory upon employers to provide 50 days of fully paid maternity leave and breastfeeding hours.

Job contracts should be authenticated by Qatar Department.

:O Cheers,
Fly4Fun

Wow, this is an improvement. Good to hear this about Qatar!

...But the question is (Frankly !!), will this realy apply to Qatar Airways?....atleast to AAB?

Unions in Qatar
 

Ummm...Not Quite

You have to read between the lines on that whole union issue...To begin with only nationals can form unions and it has to be a "private" company that employs something like 100 Qataris or more for it to qualify. Which is hard to find in Qatar, even QP doesn't qualify cause it's governmental.

Check out the labour laws:
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Dis...0040520486.xml

And anyway, last time Akbar got into a dispute with a QR union in Bahrain, I think it was the ticketing office manager, he tried transfering him to Saudi without any benefits then fired him when he refused to go.

On the other hand, we have to be realistic...Qatar is a young country and these are growing pains...I've lived here all my life practically and the mentality hasn't caught up with the infrastructure growth. Yet again look at Europe's not so recent past...Just 50 years ago, Irish coal minors where dying from their working conditions...I still have some hope for this place, it's just going to take longer than people expect it too...