Strike of Kuwait Customs Officers Brings Country to a Halt
More than 3,000 customs employees in the oil-rich Gulf state of Kuwait went on strike on Monday demanding better pay and paralyzing exports and imports, a trade union official said.
"The strike is total as all of the more than 3,000 customs employees have stopped work. We are on an indefinite strike until our demands are met," Fahhad al-Ajmi, board member of the customs trade union, told Agence France Presse.
Work at the country's only airport was "partially affected" but there was a complete halt to shipping and land freight, Ajmi said.
He warned that oil exports from Kuwait, OPEC's third largest producer "could be affected later in the day" if the strike continued as all tankers carrying crude must receive clearance from customs to leave.
The employees are demanding a pay raise and improved work conditions, Ajmi said.
Kuwait has been hit by a spate of industrial action in the public sector.
The action escalated last month after the government increased the salaries of oil workers at a cost of more than $500 million a year, bowing to strike threats in the key revenue earning sector.
Finance Minister Mustafa al-Shamali has said that the public sector wage bill has more than doubled over the past decade.
Government spending has tripled since 2005 to a record $71 billion, with public sector salaries estimated to account for at least a third of the total.
Kuwait, which has a citizen population of 1.2 million, offers a cradle-to-grave welfare system with public services and fuel offered either free or at heavily subsidized prices, and no taxes.
Source: Agence France Presse
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