Labour demonstration rumours denied

TDT | Manama

Rumours about a labour demonstration were refuted by the Ministry of Labour and Social Development yesterday. The Ministry’s clarification came a few hours after several video clips surfaced online showing hundreds of labourers marching and yelling in what seemed to be a labour protest.

Several online posts were seen on social media platforms— mentioning that the labourers were protesting due to unpaid salaries for a couple of months. The Ministry clarified in a statement that the labourers worked at a private establishment and were paid their salaries, denying the occurrence of any organised demonstrations.

However, the Ministry mentioned that the footage was of a group of the labourers, who were filmed by a co-worker at their place of residence, while “expressing dissatisfaction” because they haven’t received their overtime dues for the month of May.

“The Ministry of Labour and Social Development confirms that the circulated footage claiming that a number of expat labourers organised what was described as a labour demonstration is not true,” the Ministry affirmed in its statement.

Explaining further, the Ministry said that it had contacted the concerned establishment in this regard and it was reassured that the amounts were disbursed to the labourers yesterday, while the second and final batch will receive all their money today.

The Ministry added: “According to the Ministry’s records, the concerned establishment regularly disburses the wages and the other financial dues of its labourers, and has no arrears in paying salaries.” Two videos mainly emerged online about the incident. The first was posted on video-sharing social networking app TikTok.

It showed hundreds of masked labourers marching in what seems to be a labourers’ accommodation. The labourers, who were seen in the video wearing home clothes and undergarments, were yelling and screaming in a chaotic manner.

Another video was widely circulated on Twitter, showing riot police dealing with a crowd of labourers, who were claimed to be the same group that appeared in the first footage. However, the incident couldn’t be verified and no statements were available from the Ministry of Interior on the matter.