Protests for Better Wages Continue in Oman

Demonstrating for higher wages, private security guards blocked the main airport in the Gulf State of Oman on Wednesday.

Concessions Granted

Despite the fact that Oman’s ruler, Sultan Qaboos bin Said, has granted several concessions since the unrest began there several weeks ago, the unrest has continued apparently unabated. The Sultan, who has been in power for 40 years, as already decided to give some legislative powers to the Oman Council, to double monthly welfare payments, and to raise pension payments. This follows the pattern of other Gulf States who are offering cash to protesters in an effort to quell the unrest and maintain order.

In the latest action by demonstrators, about 400 to 500 security guards, who are privately employed by several different security companies, staged a protest on the road to the Muscat airport.

One protester, who wished to remain unnamed, said that, “Our objective of this protest is for our wages to be raised.”

The protesters left the scene when the police asked them to disperse. No violence was reported, although some travelers did not make their flights in time.

Other Protests in Oman

Workers from the state run oil firm Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) also demonstrated on Tuesday for better wages. Several hundred employees staged their protest at the company headquarters and in the oil and gas fields. This work stoppage was the first to disrupt a Gulf energy firm since the demonstrations swept through the region.

There have been protests at Oman International Bank, Oman Investment Finance Company and the Intercontinental Hotel, which is owned by the government.

There have also been demonstrations for improved political conditions, including sit-ins at the consultative Shura Council in Muscat, in front of the governor’s office in Salalah in the south and also in Sohar. Along with improved wages, and an increase in the number of jobs, protesters also demand an elected parliament and a new constitution.

Oman Air Employees Join National Unrest Movement

This past Sunday employees of one of Oman’s major companies took to the streets outside the headquarters of Oman Air in Muscat, not far from the Gulf state’s international airport in Oman’s capital city. This latest protest comes on the heels of several days of demonstrations in Oman demanding political reforms. Oman, together with Bahrain, the small island state in the Persian Gulf, have been the locales for the largest and most enduring outbursts of unrest in the Gulf states which is part of the general unrest transpiring in the Arab world since January 25th’s explosion in Tunisia and then in Egypt.

No Disruption in Flights

According to several witnesses about 100 employees at Oman Air joined together in the late morning hours to call for better working conditions. The national air carrier’s chief officer for corporate affairs, Philippe Georgiou stated that no flights were disrupted by the demonstration and that the airline is ready and willing to discuss issues with the protesters. Mr. Georgiou told the Associated Press that the demonstrators represented several corporate departments and they have a wide range of demands, one of which being higher compensation.

Mr. Georgiou said of the timing of the protest that, “The general environment is of people expressing their views … in the region.”

Watchful Eye on Oman

The other Gulf nations, especially Saudi Arabia, are keeping a wary watch on the unrest in their fellow regional states, especially Oman. Oman, along with Iran, shares the responsibility of controlling the crucial waterway through which 40% of the world’s oil tanker traffic passes, the Strait of Hormuz.
Oman Air services 41 destinations, mostly in the Middle East and India, with a few routes to Europe and Southeast Asia as well.

Government Shakeup

Protesters have come out to demonstrate throughout Oman, staging sit-ins and similar events, to call on the government to reform the economy and hold investigations into who is responsible for attacks on protesters. In response to the unrest, on Saturday Sultan Qaboos bin Said, the ruler of Oman, fired three key government officials in what was the second installment of government shakeups in the same number of weeks.