'External pressures' not behind new help for labourers

The UAE Ministry of Labour on Thursday denied its recent drive to improve the lives of low-wage workers was in response to “external pressures” from international media and human rights groups.

The raft of different initiatives announced over recent months to overhaul conditions within the blue-collar labour market was a natural progression of the UAE’s desire to keep laws and legislations in pace with developments in the region and the world, said Humaid Bin Deemas, acting director general of the Ministry of Labour, in response to questions from Arabian Business.

And he added that further measures were in the pipeline over the coming years to improve life further for the thousands of labourers working in the country.

Damning accusations from sections of the international media and human rights organisations about poor worker conditions have rocked the UAE’s construction industry.

But Bin Deemas said: “The latest initiatives are part of the country's commitment to protect workers' rights and improve their living standards.

“It is not, as some believe, the result of external pressures.”

Bin Deemas defended the ministry’s decision to give companies a five year grace period to ensure their workers’ accommodation met regulations set out in a new manual aimed at cracking down on low-grade labour housing.

The ministry announced last week the launch of ‘manual of the general criteria for workers’ accommodation’, which requires employers to upgrade accommodation by 2014 to meet international labour standards.

Among the multitude of stipulations – which will come into force from the start of September - no more than eight to ten workers should be allowed in each bedroom, with bathrooms in accommodation providing at least two toilets for every eight people.

“We need to give the employers a reasonable period to guarantee they meet all our standards,” Bin Deemas said.

“However, the ministry will maintain its responsibilities during this period and, on the contrary, our procedures will be stricter to ensure that this period, along with the gradual implementation, will not be at the expense of workers and their rights.”

On the question of enforcement of the regulations, the ministry would cooperate with the local and federal authorities, especially the municipalities and civil defence, to develop an effective mechanism for ensuring compliance with the criteria, he said.

“The ministry’s goal is more to instill a sense of responsibility among employers, rather than only relying on the principle of punishment,” he said.

“Some employers prefer to pay the violation, whatever its value is, instead of giving their employees their rights, and this is exactly what we are trying to prevent.”

Although many of the ministry’s initiatives to improve worker conditions had already been launched because they were considered top priority, other measures would be introduced over the next few years, according to Bin Deemas.

Electronic payment of workers’ salaries and giving terminated workers more time to seek alternative employment are among measures introduced up by the Ministry of Labour since April.

Earlier in April the UK’s respected BBC Panorama programme claimed to have uncovered overcrowding and filthy conditions within some labour camps, including one run by Arabtec Construction, one of the biggest contractors in the country.

The government last month rejected a report by Human Rights Watch on labour conditions at Saadiyat Island, claiming that the organisation had failed to recognise its efforts to improve labour conditions in the country.

The 80-page report, claimed conditions for construction workers on the island amounted to “forced labour”.

READERS' COMMENTS

MORE FROM ARABIANBUSINESS.COM