Stranded workers in Saudi Arabia plead for help as economy falters
Summary
Date Reported: 22 Aug 2016
Location: Saudi Arabia
Companies
United Seemac - EmployerAffected
Total individuals affected: 500
Migrant & immigrant workers: ( Number unknown - India , Construction , Gender not reported ) , Migrant & immigrant workers: ( Number unknown - Indonesia , Construction , Gender not reported ) , Migrant & immigrant workers: ( Number unknown - Pakistan , Construction , Gender not reported ) , Migrant & immigrant workers: ( Number unknown - Philippines , Construction , Gender not reported ) , Migrant & immigrant workers: ( Number unknown - Yemen , Construction , Gender not reported )Issues
Right to Food , Precarious/Unsuitable Living Conditions , Restricted mobility , Withholding Passports , Personal Health , Wage Theft , Freedom of MovementResponse
Response sought: Yes, by Journalist
Action taken: Two strikes took place outside the company office a month after the situation was reported. Workers stated they had filed cases with the labour court in 2015.
Source type: News outlet
Workers at a construction company in Saudi Arabia have issued an urgent plea for help, saying they are trapped and facing starvation because their employer is refusing to pay salaries or grant them permission to leave the country. Foreign staff at building firm United Seemac told MEE [Middle East Eye] the company's 500-plus employees have not been paid in months and that both the Saudi government and their embassies have done little to solve their increasingly desperate crisis...
One Pakistani worker, who has not been paid in 10 months, said no one is helping them because they do not work for one of the kingdom’s larger companies...“Nobody knows the situation for employees working at small companies...All the attention is on the big companies – it’s easy to ignore us because we are not so many people."
[The company's] owner declined to answer any questions in several telephone calls with MEE. However, the company’s general manager...told MEE that it is unable to pay employees because the government has failed to pay them for completed contract work.
Saudi authorities have repeatedly said they are trying to solve the problem of unpaid workers. King Salman has ordered companies including Saudi Oger to pay staff the money they are owed, although there has been little official comment about the issue of unpaid government contracts...[also refers to Saudi Binladin Group].