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May 11th, 2005 The Minister for Labour, Industrial Relations and Productivity, Kenneth Zinck tabled a report to Cabinet on his site visits to Kuwait, London and Chicago. The Minister informed Cabinet, that the visits and meetings were conducted over a ten-day period, from 22nd to 31st March 2005. "These meetings were held with Public Warehousing Company (PWC) in Kuwait and parent companies of local recruiting agencies based in London and Chicago which included the Global Risks Strategies, Armour Group and Control Risks Group in London and Triple Canopy in Chicago." A meeting was also held with the Kuwaiti Minister for Social Affairs and Labour, HE Faisal Mohammad Al Hajji Boukhadour. Cabinet was also informed that excluding those working for the United Nations and the British Army, there were 816 Fiji nationals already working with security firms in Iraq including civilians working with the PWC in Kuwait. "However, 200 Fiji nationals recruited by Meridian Services Agency were unemployed at the time of the visit and undergoing training with the Public Warehousing Company in Kuwait." The Minister said that Fiji citizens privately employed in Iraq and Kuwait basically fell into two major categories. "The first was made up of former soldiers recruited by private security companies such as Global Risks Strategies, Armour Group, Control Risks Group and Triple Canopy, and the second made up of former soldiers and civilians recruited by private contractors." At the time of the visit, Global Risks Strategies employed 250 Fiji nationals based in Iraq with contract duration of 6 months to 1 year. They were paid wages of US$1,500 a month, complemented with insurance cover for medical and health, death compensation of US$150,000 and repatriation costs. Armour Group employed 181 Fiji nationals based in Iraq with a contract duration of 6 months to 1 year. They were paid wages of US$1,500 - $2,000 a month complemented with insurance cover for medical and health, death compensation of US$32,000 and repatriation costs. Control Risks Group employed 62 Fiji nationals based in Iraq with contract duration of 6 months to 1 year, with wages of US$1,500 a month also complemented with insurance cover for medical and health, death/injury insurance cover provided and repatriation costs. Triple Canopy also employed 73 Fiji nationals based in Iraq with contract duration of 6 months rolling, with wages of US$1,500 a month complemented with insurance cover for medical and health, death/injury insurance cover provided and repatriation costs. Workers employed by these security companies were well taken care of with meals, laundry and uniforms provided. Salaries were paid directly from these companiesą headquarters to the workersą individual accounts. Public Warehousing Company (PWC) currently employs 250 Fiji nationals based in Kuwait with contract duration of 12 months and wages of US$600 - $1,200 a month. These were complemented with insurance cover for medical and health, life insurance cover of US$65,000, 50% repatriation costs and risk allowance of US$450 per border crossing into Iraq. The Minister informed Cabinet that the PWC Group was a financially stable and secure entity with its PWC Logistics division based in Kuwait. "PWC Logistics is a publicly traded company with a market capitalization of around US$1 billion and a shareholder base that comprise prominent private and public sector investors including the Public Institute for Social Security, the pension arm of the State of Kuwait." PWC's Logistics representative customers and partners include Nestle, Schlumberger, Equate (a joint venture of Dow Chemicals), Microsoft Corporation, Oracle, HP, Exe Technologies, Philips, the Governments of Dubai, Kuwait, Argentina, Kazakhstan and the United States of America. The Minister said that PWC Logistics is one of the largest and most sophisticated supply chain management companies in the region, with an extensive, well-established network across the Middle East. Mr Zinck also told Cabinet that his Ministry had been informed by Meridian Services personnel at the end of last month that they had approximately 15,000 listed to be recruited for PWC. "Our delegation was, however, advised by Mr. Nasser Obaid, the Director Human Resources for PWC, that the company only wanted to recruit between 1,500 and 2,000 from Fiji within the next 2 years." He informed Cabinet that Fiji nationals currently employed by PWC were generally satisfied with their employment. However, Mr Zinck expressed his concern that there were 200 Fiji nationals already in Kuwait without any contract. The Minister also expressed concern that there are others who have paid their recruitment fees for work with PWC but are still waiting in Fiji. This issue demands urgent resolution by Meridian Services Agency due to the large number of people and families involved with some resigning from their current employment and the huge amount of money paid out for recruitment fees, passports etc. Therefore the company should move quickly to secure contracts for these people. It is in this connection that Cabinet has decided that the Ministry of Labour should inquire into the recruitment process used by Meridian Services Agency for Public Warehousing Ltd. On the completion of its inquiries the Ministry will submit its findings to Cabinet for its consideration and decision. -End- |
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