Labor Unions in Oman: An Emerging Issue in Human Resources Management

I vividly remember a conversation I had with my friend said back in 2002. His loud voice still echoes in my head. I found him sarcastically asking what? Labor unions in Oman! You must be kidding.

His attitude was not surprising to me particularly that labor unions was not actually the norm back then. However, the reality has changed and it is no longer a taboo to form one at the moment. In fact this issue has become the talk of the town, a trend in the field of Human Resources Management everyone is keen to unveil its mystery.

What exactly is a labor union? As defined in the ministerial decision number 59/2010” a labor union is an organization of employees in a particular company, industry or activity that work together to achieve common goals.”. In Oman,  labour Unions may work to defend employees’ rights improve their financial and social situations, represent them in work related matters and educate them about the effective ways of collective bargaining with employers.

As a seed labor unions have emerged in the realm of Human Resources Management as a result of several factors such as:

•         The expansion of the economy.
•         Globalization which induced foreign investment.
•       Increasing awareness on labor rights and
•      The implementation of international human resources best practices and policies.
•     Several steps have paved the way for the establishment of labor unions in Oman until they became a tangible reality in the corporate world and become one of the tools to nourish effective employee communication and bring about a conducive employee relation between the parties of production. These initiatives can be summarized in the following:
•      Reviewing the applied labour law before 2003 .
•         Introducing a new labour law based on royal decree no 35/2003.
•         Allowing the workers to form representative committees to protect their interests, defend their rights and represent them in all of their work related matters.
•         Permitting the representative committee to form a principal committee to represent them in the local, regional and international meetings.
•        Establishing the General Representative Committee in 2005.
•         Introducing certain amendment in Oman Labor Law to facilitate the establishment of labor union based on Royal Decree 74/2006.
•        Establishing a general federation for the Sultanate workers to represent them in local, regional and international meeting and conferences. For instances it represent them in the social dialogue committee which combines representative from government and employers to promote a better work culture that work in line with the international standards set by the International Labor Organization (ILO).

In order to establish a labour union there should be at least twenty five members to officially form a union. Applications for forming labour unions should be submitted to the ministry of manpower the department of labour unions organization. Once the labour union is officially registered, its members form the union’s general assembly, out of which its management is elected for four years to manage the affairs of  the union within thirty days of its registration at the ministry of manpower. The organizational structure of a labor union consists of president, vice president, secretary, treasurer and assistant treasurer. For eligibility of becoming a member the worker should be not less than eighteen years of age. He or she should not be convicted in a crime not to mention being registered in another labor union. The union can join a general union such as that in the same sector or industry.

Like any new experience we explore in life labor union as an impetus have several challenges to overcome such as the following:

•        Financial constrains as they are depending on members fees.
•         All the members are quite inexperienced in labor union and area of collective bargaining .
•         Some companies deal with Labor Union with apprehension.
•         Some talented and experienced employees refrain from joining the labor union because they do not want to upset their superiors and be in the bad books of their company

All in all labor unions in Oman might be in its infancy stage, but they were born to last. There are 112 registered labor unions which serve private sector employees both citizens and expatriates, Such a noticeable change dictates that both employers and employees be aware of the law and gauge their decisions accordingly rather than resorting to arbitrary actions.

As another spill over labor union should be empowered by the employers so that an environment full of trust, transparency and empowerment prevails.

A Salute to a Role Model Manager

I was down in LuLu hypermarket along with my wife to get some groceries done. After we finished we headed towards the cashiers but to our dismay people were making long lines all over the available cashier’s counters. As we were joining the crowd people were grumbling with frustrations. One was saying why should these cashier counters be closed? Others were sarcastically taunting that women lost their privilege today referring to a specific counter which was allocated for women only, to facilitate things for them as a culture sensitive gesture but was closed on that particular day.

While such an atmosphere was prevailing all over the place a tall smiling man in a suit appeared all of a sudden. He was silently moving around directing his team members to focus on their customers’ satisfaction. He started to open most of the closed cashier counters to ease the situation. The positive impact on the grumbling crowds was so evident. They rushed towards the newly opened cashiers as if they saw a drop of water in the middle of a desert. Not only he was hovering all over the numerous cashier counters injecting that inspiration touch to all of his cashiers, he gave them moral support to handle their laborious daily task. Besides he was helping them bagging the customers’ groceries to effectively use time and speed up the process and manage this crisis. He insisted on planting a broad smile on his customers’ face and erasing the negative effect which penetrated them while they were waiting for their turn in the congested lines.

His sincere and enthusiastic spirit as manager had a positive spill over on his team members who were in full gear working in harmony to ease the situation.

This manager’s action was not limited to that but he was also flashing a smile at his customers whenever he got a chance and was chatting with them as if he knew them for many years.

Such approached snatched the customers from their grumbling attitude and paved the way for them to appreciate his attitude and sincerity in serving them to the best of his ability. His exhibited skills in changing their perception earned him the required customer satisfaction. This practical situation brought to mind the role of an effective manager as quoted by the late management guru Peter F. Drucker who was referred to as “The Father of Modern Management who said” The productivity of work is not the responsibility of the worker but of the manager”.
Yes of course it took a gesture of leadership to uplift the spirit of the staff to defy the odds and gather their courage to deliver the required tasks. As human we all need to feel that we are important and this manager with his excellent people skill knew how to turn a bleak situation to a memorable event. It is because of the show that he orchestrated that my pen was restless tell I have inked that show of courage through which he faced the situation and tamed his angry clientele to ensure that they leave their favorable grocery venue with a broad smile. Such sincere and earnest people deserve reflection so a very well deserved salute to that role model manager.