Around 1,200 workers at the private Saad Specialist Hospital in the eastern city of Khobar have walked off the job in an indefinite strike over unpaid wages. Not only is strike action extremely rare in Saudi Arabia, a country that bans any trade union activity, but this action is extremely significant as all workers have gone on strike, from surgeons, to theatre staff, to cleaners and maintenance workers. Most of the cleaners and maintenance staff are migrant workers and this strike represents the first time that Saudi nationals and migrant workers have taken action together. Given Saudi Arabia’s history of repression and exploitation of migrant workers (see here and here), this strike may represent the first steps towards the unity of workers in the kingdom.
Around 1,200 workers at the private Saad Specialist Hospital in the eastern city of Khobar have walked off the job in an indefinite strike over unpaid wages. Not only is strike action extremely rare in Saudi Arabia, a country that bans any trade union activity, but this action is extremely significant as all workers have gone on strike, from surgeons, to theatre staff, to cleaners and maintenance workers. Most of the cleaners and maintenance staff are migrant workers and this strike represents the first time that Saudi nationals and migrant workers have taken action together. Given Saudi Arabia’s history of repression and exploitation of migrant workers (see here and here), this strike may represent the first steps towards the unity of workers in the kingdom.
