The KTUF, whose role in cross-regional collaborations the Solidarity Center supports, celebrates International Migrants Day with migrant workers from Ghana, Sri Lanka and other countries. Credit: Solidarity Center/Abdulrahman Alturki
In Kuwait, the Solidarity Center works with worker leaders, particularly from migrant communities, to defend their rights and raise their voices in the workplace and in their communities. To achieve these goals, the Solidarity Center works closely with the Kuwait Trade Union Federation (KTUF), the oldest trade union federation in the Gulf region and a leader on worker rights and migrant issues.
Established in 1967, the KTUF is comprised of 68 affiliated public-sector unions and 11 oil sector unions. It maintains a vigorous presence in deliberations on proposed labor law reform, economic restructuring, trade union rights and democratic freedoms. More recently, the Solidarity Center and the KTUF have established a volunteer-run support office for migrant workers housed in the KTUF, the Migrant Office Volunteers and Educators (MOVE), that seeks to educate migrant workers on their rights and facilitate their access to justice for violations of their rights.
The global labor movement lost a friend and advocate, and the Solidarity Center a dear colleague with the passing of Laurence “Laurie” Clements on April 19 after a lengthy and courageous battle with cancer. Laurie is survived by his wife, Inja, a son, two daughters...
Across the Middle East and North Africa, unions and worker associations are mobilizing to educate workers about their rights during the COVID-19 crisis, provide them with resources to protect themselves and their families, and push for fair treatment at the workplace....
In Gulf Cooperation Council countries—Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates—amnesties for workers in irregular status are frequently declared, indicating that irregularity is a common and recurring phenomenon within the governing...