VZCZCXRO3383
OO RUEHDE
DE RUEHMK #1175/01 1791502
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 281502Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY MANAMA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5118
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC PRIORITY
RHBVAKS/COMUSNAVCENT  PRIORITY
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANAMA 001175 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
NEA/ARP, DRL FOR JDEMARIA 
STATE PASS TO USTR FOR JBUNTIN AND AROSENBERG 
DEPT OF LABOR FOR PACCOLA AND JRUDE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/28/2016 
TAGS: ELAB PGOV PREL BA HUMRIT POL REFORM
SUBJECT: BAHRAINI LABOR UNION LEGISLATION MOVES THROUGH 
PARLIAMENT 
 
Classified By: A/DCM Steve Bondy for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Several pieces of labor reform legislation dealing 
with union activity and the formation of unions and union 
federations are moving through the Bahraini legislative 
process.  One amendment to the 1976 labor law for the private 
sector protects union members from dismissal for union 
activities by requiring "the reinstatement of the dismissed 
worker if it is established  to the court that he was 
dismissed due to his trade union activities."  A second 
amendment to the same 1976 law provides for additional 
compensation to workers whose wages are delayed.  For the 
first six months the employer is required to pay 6% interest 
on the delayed wages and for each additional month the 
percentage increases by 1% to a maximum of 12% annually. 
These two pieces of legislation have passed both the Council 
of Representatives (COR) and the Shura (Consultative) Council 
and have been forwarded back to the Cabinet for final 
signature and enactment, which should come shortly. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) The third piece of legislation is an amendment to 
the 2002 Workers Trade Unions Law and includes articles 
related to multiple trade union federations, compensation to 
workers discriminated against for union activities, and 
guidelines for strikes.  The amendment has passed the COR and 
is currently being considered by the Shura.  It allows any 
two unions to establish a federation, but a union may not be 
a member of more than one federation.  It specifies, however, 
that workers will be represented in international fora and in 
collective bargaining at the national level by the federation 
that has the largest number of individual members.  The 
Minister of Labor will perform a periodic review to determine 
which federation qualifies as such.  The amendment also 
provides for not less than twice and not more than six times 
a worker's monthly salary for compensation when it is 
determined the worker has been discriminated against for 
union activities. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Regarding strike guidelines, this amendment 
specifies that the decision to strike can be taken by a 
simple majority of union members attending an "extraordinary 
general assembly," but the employer must be notified at least 
15 days before the strike is to commence.  The start of a 
strike results in the suspension of the labor contract, but 
the contract may not be "terminated except in cases of gross 
wrongdoing."  Work stoppages may not occur while attempts at 
dispute resolution through arbitration are in progress. 
Strikes are not permitted at any facility deemed by the Prime 
Minister to be a "vital installation" where a strike would 
harm national security or disrupt the lives of citizens. 
Disputes at these "vital installations" shall be resolved 
through arbitration. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) A fourth piece of legislation allowing for more 
than one union in a single business enterprise has been 
shelved for this legislative session, which runs out at the 
end of July.   The earliest it can be brought up for further 
debate is during the next legislative session, following the 
fall 2006 elections.  Ironically, the discussion of this law 
attracted much opposition from the General Federation of 
Bahrain Trade Unions (GFBTU), currently the only union 
federation, which viewed the law as a GOB attempt at 
diffusing the GFBTU's influence.  GFBTU assistant general 
secretary Sayed Salman Al Mahfoodh stated publicly in March 
 
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that, because unions are relatively new in Bahrain and most 
unions consist of only 150-300 members, the existence of more 
than one union in a company wastes energy and may confuse 
workers.  He said that unions should concentrate on providing 
services to and protecting workers instead of competing 
against one another for membership. 
 
¶5.  (C) Comment:  These new pieces of legislation continue 
the steps toward greater worker protection, building upon 
legislation implemented in February that required the 
reinstatement of any employee who had been dismissed for 
union activities.  The GFBTU, as expected, has been 
supportive of all legislation that protects workers, but it 
has been vocal in its opposition to any laws that cut into 
its own power base.  We will report any further developments 
on these pieces of legislation. 
 
 
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Visit Embassy Manama's Classified Website: 
 
MANAMA 00001175  002 OF 002 
 
 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/manama/ 
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MONROE