By Faten Omar

KUWAIT: Kuwait Union of Domestic Labor Offices is opposed to a decision by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to set the recruitment cost of domestic workers. In a press statement, the Union of Domestic Labor Offices disagreed with ministerial resolution no. 33 for 2021 regarding amending the prices of recruitment of domestic workers, saying such a decision must be taken by forming a committee from the ministry, Public Authority for Manpower and representatives from the union in order to reach a fair and well-studied decision in line with the requirements and conditions of the recruitment mechanism.

The statement said the board of directors of the Union of Domestic Labor Offices has enough experience to study such decisions according to economic and social conditions, whether for Kuwaiti citizens or the offices. It added the cost of recruiting domestic workers also includes fees from the workers' countries, and coordination and cooperation with labor-exporting countries, which have their own laws and procedures that must be followed.

"Kuwait is considered the cheapest country in the region in terms of the recruiting cost for domestic workers, compared to its neighbors in the Gulf. The prices set by the ministry of commerce are useless and do not meet the demands of labor by the Kuwaiti society. So the question is, who will pay the difference in prices," the statement asked.

According to the statement, the Union of Domestic Labor Offices conducted a detailed study on the mechanism and cost of recruitment, and it was submitted to the ministry of commerce to be taken into consideration, but there was no response. "During the joint meeting in February 2021 with the ministry of commerce, Public Authority for Manpower and the union, we rejected the fee imposed by the ministry, explaining the reasons for the KD 990 pre-pandemic rate and the KD 890 rate imposed by the ministry including the plane ticket," the union wrote.

The Union of Domestic Labor Offices called and appealed to Minister of Commerce and Industry Fahad Al-Shuraian to set a date to meet and explain all recruitment costs for domestic workers to take the appropriate decision in light of the new information that will be provided.