Bahrain Mirror: Batelco, Bahrain Telecommunication Company, has begun to dismiss and notify many Bahraini employees of subjecting them to a trial period of 60 days to test their skills, although some of them have been working for decades of outstanding performance at the company.

The complaints lodged to the Private Sector Secretariat of General Federation of Bahrain Trade Unions said that the company's CEO, Michael Venter, has a plan to target national telecommunications competencies, culminating in a project to dismiss employees through a program in which he defames employees before dismissing them, dubbing them incompetent. Thus, the company can arbitrarily dismiss employees without compromise or material compensation.

One of the employees said that he did not sign the program for reassessment, at the time he performed all the tasks assigned to him during the period mentioned, yet the company sent him a letter of dismissal. It is reported among the employees that the project targets more than 100 employees through the reassessment program that was not agreed on between Batelco's administration and the union.

On the other hand, a number of employees who received notices (60 days), indicated that despite their work during the Coronavirus pandemic in exceptional circumstances and the company's large profits as a result of the positive impact on the telecommunications sector, in addition to supporting the salaries of Bahraini employees, the company rewards its employees with these notices, which will lead to dismissals, contrary to what appeared in other national companies that emphasized the priority of supporting and strengthening national employment.

For its part, the General Federation of Bahrain Trade Unions communicated with the Ministry of Labor and Social Development, in order to correct the situation and cancel all decisions of dismissal and notification, and to stop the reassessment program for its illegality. It also said that is not permissible to convert permanent contracts into temporary ones by returning the trial period for employees who have been working in the company for decades.

The joint meetings between the General Federation and the Ministry of Labor have contributed to the resolution of many issues in many companies and this issue will have the largest share in the coming days.

The GFBTU pointed out that while major companies in Bahrain are seeking to Bahrainize and encourage reliance on national labor, this large company is, unfortunately, dismissing Bahrainis in this illegal way to escape its responsibilities and is unwilling to give these employees any material compensation or the option of early retirement. On the contrary, the CEO is recruiting and promoting many foreign employees now. The general trend today and since the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic crisis and with the support of the three production parties is to maintain the labor forces, especially the national ones, and the need for social dialogue between the parties to sustain the productive movement and stabilize the labor market.

Arabic Version