KUWAIT CITY // Kuwait yesterday threatened to recruit foreign help to cope with a wave of strikes that has spread through the public sector and is endangering oil exports.
Ali Al Rashid, the minister of state for cabinet affairs, told the state news agency, Kuna, that the cabinet has formed a team that will "take all necessary measures" to "fill gaps" caused by the strikes.
Kuwait has been hobbled by dozens of strikes since oil sector workers successfully coerced the government into increasing their salaries and benefits in September. This week, operations at ports and airports were hit as the union for customs workers became the latest civil servants to begin industrial action.
Mr Al Rashid said the cabinet team could use the services of anybody "from in or outside Kuwait".
Sheikh Talal Khaled Al Sabah, a spokesman for the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, said oil exports were continuing as usual and the company was keen to meet its contractual obligations for crude supplies and oil derivatives.
But Fahad Al Ajimi, a customs union official, said yesterday that six ships "full of oil" were anchored near Kuwaiti ports. He said captains were unable to leave because customs workers would not process their paperwork and he expected the ports to be filled to capacity with stranded ships "within hours".
Mr Al Ajimi said the union was negotiating with representatives of the prime minister's office. "This strike will continue" until the unions' demands are met, he added.
jcalderwood@thenational.ae
