Labourer pay under urgent review

Thousands of labourers working at the Burj Dubai went on strike last week over living conditions and transport services.

The UAE has called for an urgent review of construction workers’ salaries following a spate of high-profile protests that have focused worldwide attention on the plight of labourers in the Emirates.

The UAE Cabinet on Sunday ordered the Ministry of Labour to work with contractors to prepare proposals on the issue of construction workers' salaries, ministry Under-Secretary Humaid bin Deemas said, quoted state news agency Wam.

It is common for construction workers in the UAE to can make as little as 500 dirhams ($136) a month.

The cabinet also directed the ministry to draw up a set of standards for worker accommodation to cover all industry sectors, which it stressed should be strictly enforced nationwide, Deemas said.

Pay and conditions in the UAE construction industry made international headlines last month following a violent protest by employees of a local contractor.

Workers, many of them Indian, took to the streets demanding of better pay, housing and transport services.

The demonstration turned violent when police tried to stop them blocking off a road in the Jebel Ali area of Dubai, with some workers hurling stones at police and passing motorists.

The labour ministry has said it will deport those involved in the protest and stressed any repeat of such incidents will not be tolerated.

Then just days later thousands of labourers working at the site of the world’s tallest building, the Burj Dubai, went on strike over living conditions and transport services, refusing to leave their accommodation.

The labourers, employees of Dubai’s largest construction company Arabtec, had agreed to go back to work as of Friday following a site visit by officials from the labour ministry, Dubai police and an Indian consular representative, Wam reported.

Deemas said on Sunday the labour ministry has been following the protests with “deep concern” and is dealing with the issue.

Deemas said the ministry is determined to eradicate the practice of withholding workers’ wages, labelling it an unacceptable and illegal form of exploitation.

He said the ministry also planned to intensify inspections of workers' accommodation complexes, admitting some of the housing facilities are sub-standard and do not meet UAE regulations.

The US, which is negotiating a free trade pact with the UAE, is pressing the Gulf Arab state to apply international standards to its workforce.

While the UAE has vowed to punish firms that do not pay employees on time or force them to live or work in poor conditions, labour unions remain illegal and protests can often end in deportation.

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READERS' COMMENTS

LABOR ISSUES IN GULF
Posted by RAJENDRA K. ANEJA, Dubai, UAE on Saturday 10 November 2007 at 18:00 UAE time

LABOR WORKING CONDITIONS AND SALARIES: Please refer to your story regarding the workers at Burj Dubai not having returned to work. I reproduce below a few paragraphs from Economic Times, India of 5 November 07: "DLF looks to bring home 20,000 migrant workers: India’s growth story has thrown up immense job opportunities for expat and NRI managers, pilots and other high-salaried professionals, so far. Now it’s the turn of cheap and skilled labour from outside India to participate in the growth story. Companies have already started hiring or plan to hire such labour in thousands. India’s biggest real estate developer, DLF, plans to bring 20,000 Indian labourers from the Middle East back home to work for its projects. This follows the move made by Reliance Industries, which hired nearly 4,000 Chinese workers to lay a gas pipeline in the country. “There’s a large Indian workforce in the Middle East including in projects executed by Laing-O’Rourke. Some workers may be wanting to relocate to India and we could look at the possibility of absorbing them in our projects here,” said DLF Laing O’Rourke India director, JK Chandra. DLF didn’t give out numbers officially but a senior official, who didn’t want to be named, said it could be close to 20,000. If the plan goes through, it could be one of the biggest homecoming for Indian labourers, who for the past three decades have been working in Gulf countries to earn higher wages under difficult conditions. DLF’s move holds the promise of a better life for these labourers, who are seen as the least beneficiary of India’s economic reforms. DLF plans to match wages and perks the workers currently earn in the Middle East. They would be brought on the rolls of the company, a departure from the current practice where most construction companies source labourers from labour contractors. At the mercy of labour contractors, workers generally earn very little, less than what the company forks out to the contractors. A DLF official says that by bringing workers on rolls, the company’s wage bill would go up only marginally but the commercial gains by finishing projects earlier could be much larger. Manpower cost is less than 7% of the total building cost of houses and goes down further in commercial constructions" Under these circumstances, the UAE Government is doing absolutely right, in reviewing the working conditions of workers, and ensuring minimum wages to them. The issues of workers in UAE and many parts of the Gulf are: 1) Unscrupulous contractors frequently bring them here, after paying hefty fees, and promises of becoming millionaires overnight. 2) On arrival, they find the promises of contractors hollow. The workers frequently work 12 hours with little rest. 3) Their living conditions are not hospitable, sometimes staying 8-10 a room. 4) Quite often they receive no increments. I understand, that some workers have had no increments since they came to the country, 10-15 years ago! 5) Their salaries are low; say at 500 to 1000 AED per month. How can anyone live on such a salary, and yet repatriate something for the family in the home country? 6) The recent drop in repatriations due to appreciation of the rupee and depreciation of the dollar, has literally become the last straw on the camel’s back, which has emboldened workers, hitherto quite docile, to stop work. Employers in the Gulf must wake up to the fact that salaries are improving in the Asian economies, and the need to update their remuneration packages and policies, if they wish to retain their workers and talent. Short-sighted employers, who cannot see beyond their immediate profits, are tarnishing the image of the UAE and excellent pioneering work being done by the PM Sheikh Mohammad, in building a new country. I would also urge that staff and workers getting salaries less than 10,000 AED per month, should have their salaries linked to the home currencies, than the USD. The link with the USD, is just a theoretical status symbol for expatriates, for price rises and inflation are not neutralized by many employers in the Middle East. The Governments of India, Pakistan, China, Sri Lanka, i.e. the principal countries, from which such construction workers hail, should also ensure to regulate labor contractors and improve government-to-government relations, to avoid inconvenience to their expatriate workers.

Burj Dubai Strike
Posted by jerome on Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22:00 UAE time


I am just curious why does burj dubai make into the picture, it does not make sense to your article. We are talking about living conditions of the workers not Burj Dubai. It is just the tip of the icerberg where many other companies have their workers go on strike but does have their project picture into your article.

Labour Plight
Posted by equal rights, Dubai, UAE on Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 20:00 UAE time


Its such a shame that the person who earns so little is derived of payment on time whereas the owners of these construction firms throw away money faster than used tissue paper in summers. Making rules is not enough, they should be enforced irrespective of whose (local partner) company it is. The foresight of great leaders like Shk Mohamed in making Dubai a place where everyone is happy suffers due to few inconsiderate people thinking just about themselves and their desires.

Equal Wages
Posted by Life Not Fair, Doha, Qatar on Monday 5 November 2007 at 08:00 UAE time


The US, which is negotiating a free trade pact with the UAE, is pressing the Gulf Arab state to apply international standards to its workforce. If the US really wants to look at the discrimination in UAE, look at the difference in wages of a westerner versus an Asian Expat doing the same work..... that will show you the worst violation of labor and market standards... have that corrected before pacts are signed....

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