Kuwait airport shut down as workers protest

Kuwait's commercial air traffic ground to a halt on Monday as workers demanding a pay raise went on strike for an hour promising that if their demands were not met the next strike would last even longer.

"This is only one step," announced Khaled Al-Duaij. "Today it's one hour, then it'll be a whole day, and this will be seen in the weeks to come."

Mr. Al-Duaij, the Deputy Director of the Civil Aviation Labor Union who helped organize the strikes, told the Kuwait Times a meeting with the authorities the previous evening did not yield the desired results.

"We met the minister last night and he asked us to suspend the strike and wait for three months - this is unacceptable." said Al-Duaij, adding, "Our demands will only cost the state KD 5.5 million ($20 million)."

Workers demanding equality in pay scales rallied under signs that read, "Yes to pay raise."

Many parliamentarians, including MP Musallam Al-Barrak, a Popular Bloc member backed the strike. Speaking to the crowd, Al-Barrak said, "their demands are justified."

Another politician, Islamist MP Faisal Al-Muslim blamed inaction on the part of the government for the action taken by discontented workers. "If there was a positive response from the government, then the walkout would not have happened," he said.