Dubai labourers strike over pay

LABOUR STRIKE: Up to 300 labourers have refused to leave their accommodation in Sonapur and Sharjah. (Getty Images)

Hundreds of labourers went on strike in Dubai on Wednesday demanding a 30% pay hike, the latest in a series of protests against Gulf construction companies.

Up to 300 employees of Dubai-based S.S. Lootah Contracting have refused to leave their accommodation in Sonapur and Sharjah until they receive 45 days' paid annual leave, annual tickets home and a 30% pay rise, UAE daily Gulf News reported on Thursday.

The labourers said in a letter that S.S. Lootah Contracting, a general contracting firm, has refused to increase their salaries in view of the rising cost of living, despite several requests, according to the newspaper.

Rashid Lootah, executive director of S.S. Lootah Contracting, slammed the striking workers, saying their actions were illegal.

“The company has not defaulted in its timely payment of wages to our labourers in its 50-year history. The facilities at our camps meet all the statutory guidelines set by the Ministry of Labour. We also scrutinise all our subcontractors to make sure that they do not violate any of our labour ethics,” Lootah said in a statement.

The Dubai industrial action follows an announcement from Bahrain’s Labour Ministry on Wednesday that striking foreign labourers will now be immediately deported.

Labour Ministry Under-Secretary Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Abdulla Al Khalifa said new visas to replace the deported workers will be granted to their employers to ensure work is not disrupted.

Al Khalifa also said the government had no plans to introduce a minimum wage policy for expatriate labourers, Bahrain’s Gulf Daily News reported on Thursday.

He was speaking at the first meeting of a committee established to address the recent spate of Bahrain strikes by expatriate construction workers.

Labourers from 10 construction companies went on strike in February, demanding better pay and living conditions, the newspaper said.

Al Khalifa blamed the strikes on the announcement by the Indian government of a new 100 Bahrani dinars ($226.3) minimum wage for unskilled workers, saying labourers had “misunderstood” the new rules.

India announced last month that it would not allow its unskilled workers to migrate to Bahrain unless they had a contract stipulating the minimum wage. The law was due to come into force on March 1, but is now reportedly under review.

The GCC countries have hosted a series of protests by disgruntled workers during the past year, the most high-profile of which saw thousands of Arabtec labourers working on the Burj Dubai refuse to work for almost two weeks.

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