Building Labour Strikes in Dubai - Essay Example

Building labor strikes in the U.A.E. al affiliation Building labor strikes in the U.A.E. The causes of the conflict for the workers’ strikes in the U.A.E. Statistics from Human Rights Watch (2012) show that rampant building labor strikes experienced in the U.A.E are as result of prevalent human rights abuses in the region, especially towards immigrant workers. One of the chief complaints of striking laborers in the construction sector is unpaid or low wages, coupled with long working hours. In the U.A.E, labor laws permit between 8 to 9 working hours per day. However, in most construction companies laborers have more than 12- hour working shifts. Majority of these laborers work for days, weeks, and months on end without getting any off days, thereby, risking severe fatigue. The salaries of these workers are often minimal, compared to what they had been promised by their recruiting agents before starting work. It is common to have workers complain about employers withholding their salaries for up to four months to prevent them from switching employers. It is common belief in the U.A.E that if an employer owes a worker some money, then the latter is incapable of leaving. In addition, these laborers do not receive payment for the overtime they spend working at the building sites. This is despite the fact that basic pay is only supposed to cover eight working hours; therefore, any additional hours spent at the construction sites should be paid as overtime. Laborers in the construction sector also suffer from illnesses, many of which are related to exposure to tremendously high temperatures. Most of the illnesses occur between the months of April and September, which experience increased temperatures sometimes even up to 130 degrees Fahrenheit. According to labor laws, workers are supposed to break when the temperatures are exceedingly high and resume work when the temperatures have gone considerably down. Regardless of this, workers in many construction companies continue to be subjected to long working hours, sometimes up to 17 hours under these harsh conditions. Consequently, many workers end up in hospitals nursing illnesses caused by extremely high temperatures and the government doing little to avoid the crisis. Building and construction laborers in the UAE have to worry about work-related injuries. Laborers in this industry are always at risk of getting injured as they work, either from construction tools, falls or other kinds of occupational hazards. Unfortunately for the laborers, what are considered to be minor injuries are ignored and workers are only given ordinary painkillers. Workers whose injuries are perceived as most serious are the only ones who receive appropriate checkup by medics. Employers pay for these medical services and demand repayment immediately the worker has recovered. Construction workers, therefore, continue to suffer, get maimed or even die while working with no one to address their safety issues. Migrant workers in the U.A.E are not allowed to have trade unions to champion for their rights, meaning that whenever workers have pressing issues, there are no proper avenues to air their complaints. It is virtually impossible for construction workers to complain to their employers about wage increments or other complaints in a peaceful way, since the latter refuse to listen to the complaints. This leaves the workers with no choice but to strike, in order for their grievances to be addressed. By refusing to go to work and even causing commotions, the workers attract the attention their employers, the latter who are forced to act on the complaints. Another cause of the widespread strikes among construction workers in the U.A.E is squalid housing and living conditions. Majority of construction laborers live in labor camps, where living conditions are deplorable. The hygienic conditions in the slums are wanting, as evidenced by poor sewage systems, unsafe drinking water, and contaminated foods, all of which are recipes for diseases. It is common to find up to 15 people living together in small rooms, with poor ventilation and hygiene in most labor camps (Esveld, 2009). In addition, there is no electricity in most labor camps, thus promoting insecurity. The symptoms and the outcomes of building labor strikes in U.A.E. Building labor strikes in the UAE are characterized by workers downing their tools and staging protests in their work sites. Some protesters have been recorded as throwing stones At their employers to the extent of their frustration. According to Gorgenländer (2011) in August 2009, for example, there were a series of strikes in Dubai characterized by worker’s refusal to work and instead blocking roads in an attempt to have their employers increase their basic pay. The protesting workers brought traffic to a stand-still between Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Sometimes, protesters have engaged in running battles with police, as was the case in 2008 when over 500 construction workers of South Asian origin clashed with the police. As the police tried to remove building materials used to block roads, the rioters threw stones and other building materials at them. The result was several policemen, as well as workers being injured and taken to local hospitals. Some of the protests have turned more violent with rioters burning property belonging to their employers or even attacking their employers. Whenever a strike occurs in the construction sector, the striking workers are blamed for violating the law and thereby bear the repercussions (Jones, 2006). In most cases, the authorities move in and deal ruthlessly with the striking workers, even when the latter are not causing any damage to individuals or property. In all the mentioned examples, hundreds of workers were arrested and jailed, with a greater majority of them being deported. More specifically, the incident in 2007 saw all the striking workers deported back to their home countries, in addition to being barred from ever returning to the U.A.E. In the previous year, according to human rights watch (2006), a jail sentence of six months was passed on 45 Indian workers who had gone on strike. Labor law in the U.A.E allows an employer to dismiss an employee who does not report to work without prior notice or legitimate reasons. A striking worker is considered as being absent from work without informing their employer and is thereby terminated from employment. To the employer, unpaid wages, poor housing, long working hours, and illness are not “valid” reasons for absentia from work. Positive results from building labor strikes in U.A.E.  From the preceding; it is evident that labor strikes are not taken lightly by authorities in the U.A.E, with harsh penalties being handed down to striking workers. Nevertheless, some strikes have yielded positive results in some cases. For example, in 2006, the government through The Ministry of Labor issued a directive to one Construction Company whose workers had gone on strike to meet the demands of the workers. In this case, the workers were protesting a four months delay in the payment of their wages. Intervention from the authorities saw the workers paid at least two months arrears, with a promise to receive the outstanding amount later. According to Sonmez et.al (2006) the government responded to the construction workers complaints on long working hours without breaking even during the hot season. Accordingly, the government issued a directive in 2006 to have employers give a break to their workers in the afternoon. This break according to the Labor Ministry, is supposed to run between 12:30 p.m to 3:00 p.m, to allow the workers time to rest and shelter from heat-related illnesses such as heat- stroke and dehydration. The unhygienic living conditions in the labor camps, being among the reasons for frequent worker strikes, forced the government in 2006 to initiate reforms inline with better living conditions at the camps. These reforms saw the government inspect the hygienic conditions at the labor camps and repair some of the broken sewer lines and in some companies, workers were moved to more spacious rooms with better ventilation and hygiene. The efforts that have been made to resolve the conflict and why some of them have not yet succeeded.  In reaction to frequent labor strikes by construction workers, the U.A.E authorities have initiated measures to lessen and possibly, do away with the constant disputes between employers and employees. According to Kanna (2011) one of the measures that has been taken by the government, is the directive to have all employers deposit the salaries of their employees directly into bank accounts, from where employees can access their money. The problem with this proposition is that workers usually surrender their passports and other official documents to their employers upon arrival in the U.A.E. This, therefore, makes it hard for laborers to open and run bank accounts without help from the same oppressive employers. The Ministry of Labor, back in 2005 instructed all construction companies to give a two and a half hours break in the afternoon to their employees. This would account for the time when temperatures are highest and it is virtually impossible to work under such intense heat. However, reports show that contractors have violated this directive. Ghaemi (2006) in his work writes that the government did not follow up to ensure that the directive was followed to the letter. As a result, some companies even changed working shifts. The first shift runs from 2:00 a.m to 2:00 p.m and the second from 2:00 p.m to 2:00 a.m. This translates to laborers being at work even during the government declared resting hours. Unfortunately, the government has not done much to ensure the directive is followed and, meanwhile, workers continue to suffer. The government has come up with plans to legalize trade unions in order to provide workers in the building industry with an avenue of having their grievances known to their employers. After numerous labor strikes experienced in the years 2006 and 2007, the government saw sense in having workers’ representatives. This way, whenever workers have pressing issues, instead of downing their tools and taking to the streets or causing mayhem at the construction sites, the workers would tell their problems to their representatives. The latter would then talk to their employers and have their complaints addressed. This would be a more “civilized” way of making the workers problems known to their employers. However, the government’s laxity in implementing the law, coupled with employers’ unwillingness to have the trade unions legalized, has seen the plan remain as just that, a plan. References Esveld, B. (2009)."The Island of Happiness": Exploitation of Migrant Workers on Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi. New York, NY: Human Rights Watch. Ghaemi, H. (2006). Building Towers, Cheating Workers, Volume 18. New York, NY: Human Rights Watch. Gorgenländer, V. (2011). A Strategic Analysis of the Construction Industry in the United Arab Emirates: Opportunities and Threats in the Construction Business. Berlin: Diplomica Verlag. Human Rights Watch. (2006). The UAEs Draft Labor Law. New York, NY: Human Rights Watch. Human Rights Watch. (2012).World Report 2012: Events of 2012. London: Seven Stories Press. Jones, A. (2006). Men of the Global South: A Reader, Volume 1, Issues 84277-84518. London: Zed Books. Kanna, A. (2011). Dubai, the City As Corporation. G - Reference, Information and Interdisciplinary Subjects Series. Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press. Sonmez, S., Apostolopoulos, Y., Tran, D., & Rentrope, S. (2011). Human rights and health disparities for migrant workers in the UAE. Health And Human Rights: An International Journal, 13(2). Retrieved May 10, 2012, from http://www.hhrjournal.org Read More