Indian workers in Bahrain call off strike

The deduction, which would have been done for two years, was supposed to be a guarantee against runaway workers.

A strike by around 1,000 workers of a Bahraini company to protest what they called inhuman living conditions, random pay cuts and unfair treatment came to an end on Sunday after the company management met most of their demands.

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According to reports, the workers, most of them Indians and Pakistanis, employed by Down Town Construction, went on strike after the company announced that Bahraini dinars (BHD) 12.5 would be cut from their salaries following the introduction of a new law allowing workers to change sponsors when their contracts expire.

The deduction, which would have been done for two years, was supposed to be a guarantee against runaway workers.

According to the reports, company director Shaikh Isa bin Abdulla Al Khalifa has agreed to the workers' basic demands of supply of clean drinking water, an end to pay cuts, decent accommodation and medical insurance.

However, the company said it would continue to impose penalties on workers who commit mistakes while on the job.

"Workers, regardless of their nationalities, are penalised by a pay cut if they cause a major problem -- such as cutting the wrong cable while digging," a report in the Gulf Daily News newspaper quoted Shaikh Isa as saying.

This was the third such incident involving Indian workers in Bahrain in the last two months.

There are over 130,000 Indians in Bahrain, many of whom are working as labourers and domestic help.