Oman, March 07: Around 200 staff of Oman Air, the flag carrier of the Arab state, have staged a strike to demand higher salaries and better working conditions.
They gathered at the airline’s headquarters, located near the country’s main international airport in the capital, Muscat, for around two hours and threatened to continue their walkout action, Bloomberg reported late Sunday.
The protest has dragged one of the sultanate’s most prominent companies into the unrest that has shaken the strategically important Persian Gulf state.
The Oman Air demonstration follows days of protests elsewhere in Oman urging political reforms, jobs and improvement in salaries.
The protesters also called for the all-appointed advisory council to be transformed into a full-fledged parliament.
Bahrain has seen the biggest and most sustained outbursts in the Persian Gulf as part of the Arab world’s wave of unrest.
In a move to appease the protesters, Sultan Qaboos bin Said has replaced two ministers, pledged to create 50,000 new jobs for Omani citizens and to allocate 150 Riyals ($390) for the unemployed.
Sultan Qaboos, who has been ruling Oman for over 40 years, has banned the formation of political parties in the Persian Gulf country.
——–Agencies