Kuwait Times

Published Date: September 19, 2009

KUWAIT: A senior Kuwaiti trade unionist has controversially accused the National Union of Kuwait Workers and Employees of being an illegitimate organization that did not abide by the regulations for its formation, further alleging that it abused its position in order to illegally claim financial assistance.

Awadh Al-Mutairi, the Kuwait Trade Union Federation's (KTUF) Secretary General for Information and Cultural Affairs, made his accusation in a press release, in which he announced the federation's intention to begin work shortly on a plan to organize Kuwaiti workers' syndicates' activities in order to unify the country's union movement.

He revealed that the final version of the plan will be unveiled at the KTUF's annual general conference next April, where it looks set for approval. The senior KTUF official further explained that the plan being drawn up will focus on detecting the flaws in local syndicates' composition, which he said eventually reflect negatively on the work they perform, with the aim of putting them back on the right track to perform the duties for which they were originally established.

Al-Mutairi asserted that the legitimacy of a workers' syndicate is determined by the laws and regulations it implements rather than through any press statements it issues. He also stated that certain officials with some local syndicates had abused the freedom of speech offered by their positions in order to claim falsely to be representing workers in their public statements, at this point making his accusation concerning the NUKWE.

The senior KTUF official also called on the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor (MSAL) to launch an investigation into the NUKWE in order to determine what had happened to the funds it had collected, particularly those collected supposedly to benefit the people of Gaza following Israel's brutal assault in January this year. Al-Mutairi said that the actual fate of the funds collected for this purpose was vague since the NUKWE apparently had no account with any local bank, reported Al-Qabas. He also claimed
that there are political forces working against the federation's activities for personal gain.