Port of Salalah has lent administrative support in the interest of good worker and employee relations to the election process of the company's Union Administrative Authority (UAA) and registration of the General Assembly (union) members last week.

875 employees at Port of Salalah have registered with the union for the upcoming four year period, of which approximately 85% are Omani nationals and the remaining 15% expatriate employees, to elect the leadership structure of the UAA from a band of 11 Omani candidates, in accordance with the legal framework for the establishment of trade unions in the Sultanate of Oman.

The Port of Salalah, currently the largest private sector employer in the Dhofar region with over 2200 employees, has since its start of operations in 1999 taken an active approach in supporting the organization employee representative bodies as a resource for facilitating communication between the employer and the employee, having formed the first representative body in the year 2000. Following the amendment to Oman's Labor Law in 2006 to formalize the establishment of trade unions in Oman, the first official union body was elected at the port in 2009, which served its four year duration until 2012.

Under a climate of enthusiasm and hope for the new UAA to achieve common goals for the organization and the employees, the current round of elections lasted for two days following a thorough period for staff members to enroll and campaign.

The elections were attended by Masoud bin Ali Jaaboub, head of the trade union organizations at the Dhofar governorate office for the Ministry of Manpower, who said that the Port of Salalah union was the largest and most organized in the province, while praising the role of the administration's organizing committee for the transparency in its registration, nomination and screening process. Jaaboub said that the active approach reflected in the administration's awareness and interest in the formation of its union would reflect on stronger industrial relations and held it as a model for companies to follow.

The new UAA members that were elected by majority are: Salim Masoud Ali Bait Said, Zeyad Ahmed Salim Al-Marhoon, Khalid Salim Ali Jaboob, Said Mahad Musallam Bait Said, Musallam Said Ahmed Tabook, Ali Salim Ali Al-Jahfali, and Salim Said Musallam Al Kathiri.

Ahmed Akaak, Deputy CEO at the Port of Salalah, said, "The vital role ahead of the new union administrative authority demands a lot of work to ensure the interests of the employees are cared for and followed up continuously while coordinating between the staff and management of the company. At the administrative level at the Port of Salalah we put a lot of emphasis on providing the support that can help to facilitate the work and duty ahead of the union authority towards the employees and the organization, and we praise all the efforts made in this regard."

Commenting on the election process, the head of the election organizing committee and member of the port's Human Resources department, Hind Jumaan Hubais, said that the focus on legal procedures and that the employees were in full exercise of their electoral rights were the factors resulting in the election's success and employee credibility. Hubais also underlined the support from the members of the organizing committee in delivering on the successful regulation.

Former president of the port's UAA, Ahmed bin Salim Al Amri, said that the new union authority was picking up from the previous unions' success and results that were achieved from an era of dialogue and sound negotiations. Al Amri also thanked the former members for their hard work and wished the new members future achievements.