A bit of progress in labor relations in Kuwait

This is just a start–it’s pretty toothless since sponsors still hold most of the cards–but it at least sends the message to Kuwaiti society that laborers have legal rights, too.

And I imagine it opens the door to legal action in pursuit of stolen back pay in extreme cases (i.e., where the evidence is so undeniable and damning that the courts have no choice but to rule in the laborer’s favor).

Kuwait Mulling Minimum Wage Law for Maids Asharq Alawsat Newspaper (English)

KUWAIT (Reuters) – Lucy Cometa, a Filipina maid in Kuwait, hasn’t had a single day off work as a domestic helper for four years but considers herself lucky because she is paid regularly and gets to take breaks during her workday.

Kuwait, long criticized along with other oil-exporting Gulf states for its treatment of foreign workers, introduced a minimum monthly wage of 60 dinars ($209) in April in a move that affects hundreds of thousands of Asian laborers.

But the new minimum wage, a first for Kuwait, has come under fire because it excludes roughly 560,000 domestic workers, prompting lawmakers to consider a separate law to set a minimum salary for maids and impose rules protecting them from abuse.

“This is the first step. It is a most welcome legislation because it protects our household workers,” said Vivo Vidal, the labor attache at the Philippines Embassy, adding he wanted the bill to guarantee wage payment.

Draft legislation currently on the table would set a minimum wage of 45 dinars for household staff such as maids, drivers and cooks, and extend them protection from overwork, non-payment of salary and physical abuse.

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