OFFICIALS SAY OMAN STILL ON TRACK TO PUBLISH NEW

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MUSCAT 001458

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ARPI, DRL (A. ANZALDUA)
STATE ALSO FOR NEA/PI (S. FRANCESKI AND B. ORBACH)
DEPARTMENT PASS USTR FOR J. BUNTIN AND A. ROSENBERG
DOL FOR J. SHEA, B. SHEPARD AND J. RUDE
US MISSION GENEVA FOR LABOR ATTACHE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB ETRD KMPI PGOV PHUM MU
SUBJECT: OFFICIALS SAY OMAN STILL ON TRACK TO PUBLISH NEW
UNION REGULATIONS

REF: MUSCAT 01084


1. (SBU) Summary: Officials at the Ministry of Manpower claim
they are on track to publish regulations implementing recent
reforms to Oman's labor law before the target date of October

31. The International Labor Organization (ILO) has seen a
draft of the regulations and provided comments. Union
representatives, however, complain that they have been left
out of the process. In addition, contacts at the Ministry
state that the new regulations may necessitate immediate
union elections, a measure opposed by union representatives.
End Summary.

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Ministry Preparing to Issue Guidelines
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2. (SBU) Undersecretary for Labor Affairs, Sayyid Hamad bin
Hilal al-Busaidi, stated October 9 to Poloff and members of a
visiting ILO delegation that the Ministry of Manpower (MOM)
is putting the final touches on regulations to enforce and
implement labor law reforms specificed in Royal Decree
74/2006 of July 8 (reftel). The new regulations, contained
in two ministerial decrees, cover freedom of association,
collective bargaining and the right to strike. A special
committee of the MOM's Department of Legal Affairs has
completed its review of the regulations for freedom of
association, according to the Undersecretary and officials
from that department, and plan to review the remaining
regulations in the next few days.


3. (SBU) The Undersecretary commented that the government is
intent upon completing the regulations before October 31, the
date the Sultanate previously set to bring its labor laws
into compliance with the provisions of the US-Oman Free Trade
Agreement (FTA). He turned down an offer from the ILO
delegation for legal technical assistance to finish the
regulations, stating that the MOM already incorporated
comments from the ILO, which saw early drafts. The
Undersecretary further stated that the regulations now are
one step away from becoming law; once the special committee
finishes its work, the MOM will send the regulations to the
Ministry of Legal Affairs for final review and publication in
the official gazette. (Note: Post asked to be provided with
a draft of the regulations. Officials stated that the
Ministry normally does not share draft laws with foreign
missions, but that they will bring Post's request to the
attention of the Minister of Manpower, Juma bin Ali al-Juma.
End note.)

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Possibility of New Union Elections?
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4. (SBU) Members of the General Federation of Workers of the
Sultanate of Oman, formerly called the "Main Representative
Committee," claim that the Ministry has not included them in
the process of developing the implementing regulations as it
moves quickly to meet FTA obligations. Nabhan al-Battashi,
who heads the federation's Rights and Duties subcommittee,
and Saoud al-Jabri, head of the External Relations
subcommittee, complained that the Federation has not seen a
draft of the regulations or been asked to provide substantive
comment. As a result, they said, the Federation is uncertain
what effect the regulations may have on the way unions
currently are organized.


5. (SBU) Further, contacts at both the MOM and the Federation
stated separately that they are aware of discussions within
the Ministry to require new union elections immediately after
the regulations are published. Saleh Ayil Khamis Alamri,
Director General of the MOM's Department of Labor Care,and
Yacoub al-Kharbushi, director of the MOM's newly-created
Department of Union Organizations, stated that the
regulations may invalidate the results of previous elections,
and that new elections could be necessary to bring unions
into compliance with the law. Al-Battashi and al-Jabri
believe, however, that the Federation has received assurances
from Minister al-Juma that unions will be able to maintain
their current leadership for up to two years. They opined
that the Federation needs time to organize, educate and
prepare its members for new elections, estimating that at
least 80% of the country's unions currently are inactive, and
that members of the same union often do not know each other.

MUSCAT 00001458 002 OF 002




6. (SBU) Comment: Despite their frustration at being left out
of the process, members of the Federation expect that the new
regulations at least will delineate the space in which they
can operate. The government hopes that the new regulations
finally will satisfy its labor commitments under the FTA.
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