Page 432 - Records of Bahrain (7) (ii)_Neat

822 Records oj Bahrain
CONFIDENTIAL

LABOUR INSPECTION IN TUB TERRITORY OF
BAHRAIN. ARM iaTToulf

In this account, I have sot myself tho took of recording
conditions and evonta in thia aroa of the Qulf at tho time of my
arrival from the United Kingdom in January, I960, when I oturtod
adviaing the Commioaioner of Labour for tho Government of Buhroin
and subsequently during my atay in that attractive country.

When I arrived tho Bahrain Labour Ordinance of 1957 wus not
only tho law, but it hud nominally boon in foroo for 2 yoaro.
To cover labour oonditiono in tho territory generally three
Ordinanooa hod boon paeoed and wore ulready in foroo. Those
oomprlaod the main Labour Ordinance of 1957 and two other subse­
quent Ordinanoee, i.o. the Oomponaation Ordlnanoe and tho Poweru
of Inepeotion Ordinance. All theoo onaotmenta were comprehenaive
and not only covered auoh mattero as oontraota of employment,
wages, houra of work and holidays, rates of compensation for
injury or disease, but in a very wide oonao were also doaigned to
muko working conditions aafe and healthy, Tho Ordinanceo wore
of a very advanced ohoraoter, oonaidering oonditiono in Bahrain
generally when they came into foroo, The view was widely taken
that thoBo Ordinances were too advanced altogether for a Sheikhdom
which, without franchise. io ruled, for all internul purposes, by
a Government whose decisions are based on those of Ills Highness
the Ruler and membero of hiB family, Y/hatever the merits of such
a view, His Highneso has ohown himoelf to be not only a Just but
progressive and bonevolent Ruler and the whole territory of
recent yearo has undoubtedly prospered under his administration.
However, the normal ways of life, of buoineBB, work and oociul
oustoin have changed little in thia part of the Arab world for
many oenturies and the prospect of radical change which the paso-
ing of the Labour Ordinances brought was clearly likely to bring
* prejudices, misunderstandings and opposition from important
sections of the community. Such, indeed, proved to be the case
as Boon as I started the task of advising on how boot tho
Ordinances oould be put into operatioh.
I began by trying to obtain an overall picture of the
position and the task involved and then to assess available and
potential resources which oould be mustered to carry out tho task.
I found that for two years, since the main Ordinance had ooino
into force, nothing had been dono to inspect or onforoo it.
Of the largo number of employers of labour, estimated at somo
3,000, only 66 were known and registered and as those wore the
largest employers, it followed that moot of them would probably
be tho better employers also. Tho office organioution of tho
Labour Department was designed only to outer for serious labour
disorders and complicated oases of compensation and the liko.
It also was trying to deal with the placing of labour, though
; this could not bo really effective in the absence of any
registry of labour required or unemployment figures. The whole
labour structure in Bahrain I found, was very much complicated
by the long established oustom in these islands of employing u
large percentage (particularly of skilled labour) of foreigners.
These men I found came from many other Middle East Arab states,
from tho Bhaikhdoms of tho Truoial Coast and from India and
Pakistan, Many oi* these are excepted from the Labour Ordinances
although tho British Political Agency in Bahrain looks after
their interests and their employment is coverod by parallel
Ordinances.
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CONFIDENTIAL