KUWAIT CITY: Hundreds of workers at Kuwait’s international airport held a one-hour strike Monday to demand better working conditions, threatening to stage longer walkouts in the coming days.
Ahmed Mohammed Al-Kandari, a union representative, said workers were calling for improved treatment and to be compensated for daily exposure to pollution and noise.
Monday’s strike by Kuwaiti staff did not affect flights, officials said.
The right to strike is guaranteed for citizens in Kuwait, but such actions remain rare in the Gulf country.
Foreign workers do not have the right to strike.
“Airport traffic is very normal,” Sheikh Salman Al-Hamoud Al-Sabah, head of the General Directorate of Civil Aviation, said.
Another official, Saleh Al-Fadaghi, the airport’s director of operations, also said flights were not affected.
“During the one-hour strike, 19 flights were operated as scheduled. There were five departures and 14 arrivals,” he said.
Kandari said the purpose of the strike was not to disrupt operations but “to make our voices heard.”
He added that Kuwaiti workers would hold a further two-hour strike on Wednesday and a 24-hour strike on Sunday if their demands are not met.
Of 4,500 civil aviation employees, 1,500 took part in Monday’s strike, he said.
Workers strike at Kuwait airport for better working conditions
Workers strike at Kuwait airport for better working conditions
- Monday’s strike by Kuwaiti staff did not affect flights, officials said
- The right to strike is guaranteed for citizens in Kuwait, but such actions remain rare in the Gulf country
Gaza fuel running short after Israel closes borders amid Iran war
- Israel’s military closed all Gaza border crossings on Saturday after announcing air strikes on Iran carried out jointly with the US
- Israeli authorities say the crossings cannot be operated safely during war
CAIRO/JERUSALEM: Gaza is rapidly running out of its limited fuel supply and stocks of food staples may become tight, officials say, after Israel blocked the entry of fuel and goods into the war-shattered territory, citing fighting with Iran.
Israel’s military closed all Gaza border crossings on Saturday after announcing air strikes on Iran carried out jointly with the United States. Israeli authorities say the crossings cannot be operated safely during war and have not said how long they would be shut.
Few days’ worth of supplies
Gaza is wholly dependent on fuel brought in by trucks from Israel and Egypt and a lack of fresh supplies would put hospital operations at risk and threaten water and sanitation services, local officials say. Most Palestinians in Gaza are internally displaced after Israel’s two-year war with Hamas militants.
“I expect we have maybe a couple of days’ running time,” said United Nations official Karuna Herrmann, who directs fuel distribution in Gaza.
Amjad Al-Shawa, a Palestinian aid leader in Gaza, who works with the UN and NGOs, estimated fuel supplies could last three or four days, while stocks of vegetables, flour, and other essentials could also soon run out if the crossings remain shut.
Reuters was unable to independently verify those estimates.
Israel’s COGAT military agency, which controls access to Gaza, said that enough food had been delivered to the territory since the start of an October truce to provide for the population.
“(The) existing stock is expected to suffice for an extended period,” COGAT said, without elaborating. It declined to comment on potential fuel shortages.
The truce was part of broader US-backed plan to end the war that involves reopening the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, increasing the flow of aid into the enclave, and rebuilding it.
Hamada Abu Laila, a displaced Palestinian in Gaza, said the closures were stoking fear of a return of famine, which gripped parts of the enclave last year after Israel blocked aid deliveries for 11 weeks.
“Why is it our fault, in Gaza, with regional wars between Israel, Iran, and America? It is not our fault,” Abu Laila said.
