KSA taking steps to rein in Asian wages

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is taking steps to curb the increase in the monthly salaries of unskilled workers from Asian countries, such as Sri Lanka, India, Philippines, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam, China and Afghanistan.

The Council of Saudi Chambers (CSC) has formed a committee to monitor and study the data issued by Asian countries, which continually attempt to increase the minimum wage of their workers,” said Mansour Al-Shithri, chairman of the CSC’s labor market committee.

Commenting on a report, he said that there is a tendency among Asian countries, especially India, to systematically raise the salary of unskilled or household service workers to SR1,500 a month.

He said that these countries have been meeting to unify their stance toward the GCC, notably Saudi Arabia, vis-a-vis workers’ salaries since 2003.

The CSC is currently studying the decisions made by the 11 countries to verify whether their policies are compatible with standards set by the International Labor Organization (ILO) and other diplomatic systems,” he said.

He added that the decision to create a minimum wage for each country would contradict ILO stipulations because it would cause discrimination in salaries, which will be based on nationality or country.

Al-Shithri added that his committee will organize an emergency meeting after the team has finalized its studies on the matter.

“A total of 747,000 Indian workers left home in 2012. Of this number, 357,000 came to Saudi Arabia and 364,000 went to other GCC countries. This means that 96 percent of the total number of Indian workers came to GCC countries,” he said.  (Arab News)