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.
There is some good news for domestic workers in Kuwait: The National Assembly adopted a new law in June that will grant them unprecedented legal rights. The law applies to family maids, baby sitters, cooks and drivers. More than 660,000 domestic workers are currently...
On a trip to Kuwait two years ago, Nisha Varia from Human Rights Watch visited a hospital where two rooms were filled with injured domestic workers who had tried to escape from their employers’ homes. Trapped in abusive situations, the women jumped from windows or...