Kuwait Airways Strike Costs $1mn

A strike by employees at Kuwait Airways, which led to the cancellation of 10 flights on Saturday, cost the company and its subsidiaries an estimated $1 million within the four-hour period, according to local media reports.

The protesting workers were demanding a higher pay, and blamed the government for not meeting its requirements.

“We were forced to go on this strike as a result of the negligence of the government for not fulfilling its promises or realizing the deal signed with the union regarding wages and increasing allowances of Kuwait Airways workers more than six months ago,” the head of the Kuwait Airways union, Abdullah Al-Hajri, said in a statement.

“Kuwait Airways employees care for the general benefit of the public but they were forced to hold this strike to demand their rights. We will continue striking until our demands that were previously approved by the government are met,” he added.

In October last year, 4,000 workers from the carrier’s union had gone on strike, also over salary demands.

The protests led Kuwait’s government to announce a 25 per cent pay rise to state workers last week.