Kuwait oil, gas, petrochemical workers to strike from Sunday

Union members at Kuwait's state-owned oil, gas and petrochemical companies will start a strike on Sunday in protest against a government proposal to cut some of their benefits and wages, the president of the sector union said on Monday.

"The union finds itself obliged to take the difficult decision to escalate with this announcement of a general strike in all sectors starting on Sunday, April 17 at 7am," Saif al-Qahtani, head of the Oil and Petrochemical Industries Workers Confederation, said on Monday at a news conference.

A spokesman for Kuwait's national oil company, Kuwait Petroleum Corp, told Reuters export and production for domestic consumption would not be affected by the strike.