Over 80 cleaning workers went on strike Sunday at Habona General Hospital in the Najran region, south of the Kingdom, over a four-month delay in the payment of their salaries. The industrial action came in the wake of the hospital contracting a new company for its maintenance work. A hospital source said that the workers have not received payment for February from the new company. “They will get paid in full in the next few days,” said Yasser Al-Masiri, work supervisor at the hospital. “The delayed payments are the responsibility of their old company,” he said. Apart from their delayed salaries, the workers have also complained about the “deplorable” conditions at their housing units. The workers said they were only provided with five rooms, with no air-conditioning units and only two bathrooms. According to Al-Masiri, the current housing was “the only available choice”. He said “it will be equipped with new air-conditioning units”. Although the workers were on a three-year contract with return tickets and annual leave, they have worked for up to nine years without getting any contractual benefits. “Whoever wanted to travel back home had to pay the expenses out of his pocket,” one worker said. Some of them were also have expired Iqamas, said the worker.
