New Bahrain trade federation splits union movement

New Bahrain trade federation splits union movement
Bill Law – BBC News – 17 Novemebr, 2012

As unrest continues in Bahrain, the Gulf kingdom’s trade union movement appears to be splitting in two.

A breakaway federation says it has attracted thousands of members since launching in July. The organisation – which uses the curious acronym, BLUFF – says its rival is “too political and no longer focuses on labour issues”.

BLUFF stands for the Bahrain Labour Union Free Federation. Its vice-president, Basim Kuwaitan, told the BBC that unions from 12 companies had joined his organisation and estimated the number of members as “between 13,000 and 15,000”.

Mr Kuwaitan says the reason for the creation of a new federation was simple. The existing General Federation of Bahrain Trade Unions (GFBTU), he claims, was “not labour related anymore”.
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“The GFBTU called a strike in March last year that was related to political issues. It was against the law. Labour unions should steer clear of politics,” he adds.

But critics like Cathy Feingold have described BLUFF as an “absolutely blatant attempt to split the union movement”. Ms Feingold is the director of the international department for the AFL-CIO, the powerful American trade union federation.

Unions representing workers at many major corporations in Bahrain, several of them with ties to the ruling family, the Al Khalifa, have gone over to BLUFF.

And there are allegations that in at least one case it happened without a formal vote. A member of one union told the BBC: “There was no vote, the executive just announced that we were part of BLUFF.”

Mr Kuwaitan denies that charge. “We followed the proper procedures as laid down by the labour code,” he says.

Karim Radhi of the rival GFBTU says his organisation represents 80 unions and 25,000 members. He questions the independence of BLUFF.

“We should investigate just how free and independent the new federation is,” he says.

Thousands sacked

Bahrain has been wracked by more than 18 months of civil strife. At least 60 people, including several police officers, have been killed. The opposition puts the death toll at 80, a figure the authorities dispute.
Bahraini workers demanding reinstatement in February 2012 More than 4,000 people were dismissed from their jobs during last year’s unrest

Last year, more than 4,000 people were dismissed from their jobs. Almost all were Shia Muslims, who form the majority in a country ruled by a Sunni royal family.

In the wake of widespread international condemnation of how the government handled the protests, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa appointed an independent tribunal, the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), to investigate abuses.
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