Foreign missions whose workers are involved in a major strike against their companies will send their officers today to negotiate with their respective employers connected to the problem.
More than 7,000 Asian workers from Bangladesh, Pakistan, India and the Philippines went on strike on Sunday in Riyadh for nonpayment of salaries by their sponsors and also as a mark of protest against their sponsors not willing to pay the SR 2,400 requested by the Labor Department.
The construction workers belonged to a number of private companies that have been subcontracted by the Ministry of Finance to implement various projects as part of King Abdullah Financial district in Al-Aqeeq.
A senior official from the Labor department of the Bangladesh Embassy in Riyadh told Arab News that the mission received a complaint about this problem and that they will be sending a team to the site to get an on-the-ground report about the problem.
The strikers who blocked the main road because of their massive presence along the streets were asked by security authorities to submit their grievances in writing to their respective sponsors.
The labor welfare officer from the Pakistan Embassy told Arab News that he would be sending a special team to the construction site to initiate a dialogue between the sponsors and the employees for a peaceful settlement.
Reliable sources told Arab News that although the complaint was due to nonpayment of salaries, the workers' hidden grievance was the sponsors' refusal to pay the SR 2,400 to the Labor Department.
Embassies intervene to settle labor strike
