Satisfaction among Factory Workers and Cleaners in the UAE - Essay Example

Introduction Middle East oil countries have been very attractive for the Asian people to earn livelihood. Many skilledand unskilled workers prefer to live their away from families to have cash in their pockets. Migration of the people in these countries was very much increased during 1990s.Migrants constitute about 80% of the total UAE population, amongst them 42 percent are people from South Asia. UAE was the main destination for the Indian migrants. These migrants may be there for different purposes and they can be categorized as follows. Foreigners Admitted for special purposes: for specific jobs Settlers: They live there with families for a long time. Asylum migrants: Who have been forced to leave their native land for political reasons. Workers: May be factory workers, office workers, people working as house servants etc. Contract migrant workers: Once they have done the contract, these migrant workers are not usually allowed to change their jobs, (Achariah , Rajan, Parkash. 2004). Heavy human trafficking of both men and women occurs here. These countries, for instance; Dubai has a large number of tourists from all over the world. They need many people who can work in media and Information technology fields, as it is a growing industry. UAE countries have become center of attention for the whole world because of its oil resources, these countries receive many visitors from all over the world, either it is for business purpose or for tourism. Most of the South Asians move to the UAE to find jobs. Most of the people from Pakistan, India and Bangladesh are blue collar workers. They work as house maids or domestic servants, factory workers, taxi drivers, waiter or waitress, laborers construction workers and petrol pump attendants etc. They have to accept whatever statement is given to them as they don’t have any right to speak. Statement of Problem This paper aims to draw world’s attention on the plight of these less literate workers who do not have any degree. It is a critical examination of the living standards of the people working there. Many problems exist for these people who are treated as second-class citizens in these rich countries. They remain unsatisfied away from their families in a poor and in undesirable circumstances. They have to send most of the money to their homes for children and other family members to fulfill their basic needs. Rest of the money is not enough for their own requirements. Adjustment problems: They suffer from climate change in addition to that their surrounding environment and people are also not always from the same nationalities, they take much time to settle with the people of different cultures. They are lacking the basic needs of life around them; like they do not get pure and clean drinking water, nor do they have necessary waste disposal facilities. Health issues: If anyone of them falls ill, they can not access hospitals, doctors and other healthcare practitioners because of poor financial status. This cause poor health and more infections amongst them, these might be communicable infections, rapidly transferred from one person to the other as they live in communities. Although this is a fact, that these workers either they are domestic workers or in construction fields, they are playing very important part in the development of country. But there is a need to make rules to decrease the plight of these workers and make conditions more favorable for these hardworking people. Freedom of speech and workers exploitation: People there do not have freedom to speak about their rights and problems, as media is not free. People working in homes are very frequently subjected to violence. Both physical and sexual violence is common. Women are more frequently the victims in these cases. On the other hand, they cannot freely tell media about these issues one because they are ashamed of sharing these experiences and secondly, because they cannot criticize the policy makers for their rules. There are evidences showing male workers are not paid and they are harassed. Hence, non-Arabic people face considerable fear and deprivations. There are some stories that many underground jails are located within the country for the political prisoners creating harassment. (Human Rights Watch 2009) Racial issue: Slavery has been a common practice amongst the Arab countries since a long time. Young children and women from Bangladesh, India and Pakistan are kept as slaves and they are supposed to admit whatever they are asked to do. Moreover, foreign workers are blamed very easily for example, during a discussion in federal court one person blamed that Hindus and foreign nationals, that they cause kidnapping and destroy the culture of our homes. On the other hand if any one of them is accused with violence, drugs or sex he will be punished according to the strict Arabic rules and may not meet his family members ever, (Peck 1986). Most of the times, best jobs are given to Arab nationals, for example job advertisements in the majority of the local newspaper give the statement “for Arab national or UK/USA educated only . This kind of racial bias stops people from south Asian countries to get into attractive jobs and earn good amount of money. Camel jockeys: Many children from Bangladesh and Pakistan are smuggled in Arab courtiers. These smugglers earn a huge amount of money from Arabic people. These children are used as camel jockeys in races. Many of these children fall, get seriously injured and even die. Psychological issues: These immigrants suffer from many psychological problems as they are away from their homes, families, and children only for the sake of money. Changed environment, circumstances, weather and friends everything make them to feel sick, pushing them into deep psychological distress. Salary and wages: As stated above, mostly good jobs are for the people who are either Arab national or for the highly educated persons from UK and USA. Mostly south Asian people who are working in these countries are not very highly educated or skilled. Therefore, they are given least amount of salary. People from US, Australia, Canada etc get highest salaries. Moreover people of Korea, China, and Japan also earn good amount of money, and least salary is received by the people from south Asia. These people send appreciable amount of their pay to homes, and are left with very small amount for their own requirements. (Ghaemi 2006). Long working hours: Another factor, which contributes towards the psychological issues, is that many people have to work for long hours, even in night shifts. They do not get enough time for rest, these results in poor mental and physical health and low efficiency. In addition to that excessive working hours do not contribute anything good towards their low income, in other words they do not get extra money for excessive working hours. Because of these factors, if any one of them wants to change his job, then it will also not be possible, as employers retain the passport of their workers which is in fact against the law. (Human Rights Watch 2009) Low income: Low-paid workers do not have basic facilities of life. They are not provided with any health care, as they have to send most of their income to their poor families living in other countries, so they are not left with enough amount of money to fulfill their basic health needs. Moreover, they can not change their jobs, they have to work for their employers who have kept the passports of these workers in their own custody, as when they arrive to their working place for the very first time, they are asked to surrender their passports, and these migrant workers are left with no other option. In addition to that these people are not allowed to buy a car, or get a house on rent. No bonuses are awarded to workers. Normally, for 12 to 15 hours shift a worker is paid only $120 per month. Salaries are not given on time and they are under pressure from their families at the back as they do not send money at the start of every month. On the other hand if the company falls into financial crises these are the first affected people in these situations. (Ghaemi 2006). Poor living conditions: These migrant workers are asked to live in camps. Condition of these camps is very noxious, no proper sewage system and toilets are available. People from different nationalities and from different cultures are compelled to live together in these circumstances. As a result infections are very common amongst them. These are mostly communicable infections and are transferred from one person to the other easily. When these people go back to their homes they carry these diseases with them, serving as an efficient vector for the spread of these infections to other part of the world. Mortality rate: Mortality rate is very high amongst these workers as they live in an insecure environment. No life insurance is provided to them, people who are involved in work with construction companies have very high death rate because of no safety measures for them while they are working. No body will care if any one of them experiences a serious or life threatening injury. Migrant workers prefer to go in these countries as these are steadily progressing from last few decades. These oil countries have attracted a huge number of people because of its open immigration policies particularly from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and even people from Africa are amongst them. They prefer to live their, because of unprecedented economical advancement and large number of job opportunities. Since 1970 Dubai’s economy is growing at a very high rate, more and more people are moving from rural areas towards the urban areas. Developmental changes are very rapid, more and more roads are being constructed, buildings are being made. More people from the neighboring countries, who are not holding any degree are called for jobs, no sooner as they reach to the destined place, their passport is taken by their sponsors so that they may work under their instructions regardless of whatever the conditions are, either favorable or unfavorable for them. (Ghaemi 2006). With all this advancement and human mobility towards these developed areas, these countries are also facing socio-economic and environmental problems. Over crowding resulting in heavy traffic, people have to face a lot of problems, especially foreigners if they do not have their own vehicle. Accidents are very common and polices are not favoring the people from the other countries. On the other hand these poor workers who come in Arab countries to find work and money, they are not paid well and mostly their salaries are not given to them on time. These people are in severe psychological and mantle distress, sometimes they prefer to commit suicide rather than return home with their empty pockets. Dubai has a very shiny and attractive picture for the people living in the underdeveloped country. They want to go their and sometimes they do not hesitate to spend a big amount of money for this purpose, which may leave them with nothing in their hands. In addition to that UAE countries have a large number of tourists coming from all over the world. Dubai economy is mainly based on this tourism, large number of shopping malls, hotels, restaurants and recreation places. The desperation amongst the factory workers and laborers has resulted in frustration, and if they protest against low wages and nonpayment from their sponsors they are sent to jails. There sponsors are usually belonging to very influential political parties or are having good terms with them. This causes increased monopoly at their end, and increased plight for the poor workers. (Ghaemi 2006). Purpose The purpose of this research paper is to measure the satisfaction of an unskilled and illiterate migrant worker in the UAE. As mentioned above, there clearly seem to be problems associated with unskilled workers in the UAE. Therefore, this paper will focus on a) why unskilled workers are not satisfied with their jobs and b) proposing solutions and recommendations to overcome these problems. Importance of the study UAE is an international country where people from the diverse culture live and share their ideas. United Arab Emirates have total 37 air ports and in it smaller airports and military airports are also included. Its significance is increasing from time to time, a total of 5.5 million passengers reach their in 2005 and this value was five percent higher than the year 2004. More and more commercial developments and facilities are being provided to these passengers. New runways and passenger terminals are being made, as airport is the busiest place in the country. Superb roads are their, which are connecting one emirate to the other. Due to overcrowding of people from many countries and also from the rural areas public transport has become insufficient and busses with a large number of passengers are seen in the streets of Dubai as well as in Abu Dhabi. With the huge number of commercial advancements and progress, electricity demand is also very much increased and being fulfilled efficiently. As UAE nationals are very less in number so they are dependant on the other skilled and non skilled people to come and work. People from all over the world come and get settled there majority of the migrant work force is from USA, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Africa. Dubai and Abu Dhabi are the busiest and most populated areas having migrants from versatile cultures. Muslims, Hindus, Christians live their peacefully. Mostly the religion of people is Islam and it is a complete way of life. Although advancement is done but employees from different countries face some difficulty when they want to stay in Dubai. This is a fact that UAE is dependant on foreign laborers and workers. About 78.1 percent of the people of the total population are foreigners and they are there to work and earn. Mostly high amount of salary is given to the people who are from USA, who are sent to there from their companies. Lowest salary goes to the Asian and African and they cannot have any accommodation so they live in camps even when the temperature is above 47 degrees. (Library of Congress 2007) Research Questions Above stated details are sufficient to show the significance of Dubai as an international country. Measures should be taken to bring the life of workers out of the plight. The most important research aspects that will be looked into will concern the following questions: Are workers satisfied with their salaries? Are their living conditions satisfactory or not? Are they comfortable in their jobs or not? Are services and insurance provided to them satisfactory? 2. Background 2.1 Literature Review In order to answer these questions, it is important that a literature review be done. This will support and give evidence which will help us in answering the above research questions. According to a report titled, Building Towers, Cheating Workers, a comprehensive overview was given on the working conditions of the average UAE construction worker. As far as wages are concerned these migrant workers receive as low as $120 per month. They work for 12 to 15 hours daily. Statistics show that in comparison to Asian workers people from USA receive appreciably good amount of money. Following data shows it clearly: Designation Gulf Arab national/ Asian expatriate Western expatriate AED Marketing manager Accountant Sales person Secretary Blue collar worker Waitress 8000 to 12000 7000 to 9000 7000 3000 to 4000 no data available 2000 to 4000 6000 to 9000 5000 to 6000 4000 2000 15000 to 2000 8000 Ref 4 Above stated data shows that there is a difference between the salaries paid to people from these to places. This issue is needed to be addressed to satisfy the people from South Asia and decrease the sense of deprivation amongst them. In the same study, in February 2006, human rights association conducted a research and they interviewed about 60 people who were involved in construction works. Whole procedure of their recruitment till their working conditions in UAE and also the environment of their homes were studied. Government officials, lawyers and policy makers were approached and interviewed about it and also various construction sights and camps were visited where these people live. As civil institutions are lacking in the UAE, so no detailed data is available for the condition of migrant workers there. Further research about the migrant workers in UAE is required and data is needed to be collected, (Ghaemi 2006). In another study done by the Migrant Forum in Asia (n.d), the plight of women migrant workers to the UAE was discussed. According to the report, because most of these women were employed in houses as maids, they were bound to be victims of physical and psychological abuse. Such details of domestic violence did not often come into the open because of the secrecy of such activities. Therefore, as much as male workers are exploited in UAE, female workers who often migrate from the Philippines and other South Asian countries also face unfavorable working conditions in the UAE. In another study, the Island of Happiness, a study was done by the Human Rights Watch (2009), to assess the working conditions of construction workers in Saadiyat Island, just a few miles off coast of Abu Dhabi. It was found out that the worker received an average of $8.00 every day, this is lower than the bare minimum in the US. Additionally, it was found out that employees failed to give overtime pay. In some cases, the workers did not receive payments for as long as two months straight and employees were even charged of illegally deducting various amounts. Other issues that seemed to compromise on the workers’ safety were that they were not given enough rest day and leaves. Some construction workers worked as long as 14 hours a day. A Zebulin worker complained that he had worked 30 days consecutively without being even a day off. Regarding the health insurance of workers, in 2006 it was decreed by the prime minister that all employers of unskilled workers should provide health insurance. However, it was noted while talking to employees, that inadequate health services were provided. Most of the workers who had experienced accidents were just handed Panadol without discerning the degree of the injury. Sometimes the workers had to pay out of their own pockets which was very costly and left them with nothing to send back to their homes. 2.2 Definition of terms It is important to define some important terms in the context of the paper. Migrant worker: a person who is engaged in remunerated activity in state of which he or she is not a national, (Ghaemi 2006). Factory Workers: In the context of this paper, these are mainly workers who work in factories (food, manufacturing, chemical) and will also include construction workers. Cleaners: These will mainly be domestic help; maids. Satisfaction: Satisfaction, in the context of this paper will be analyzed by looking at workers pay, living conditions, working conditions, the number of off days and access o health insurance. 3. Methodology 3.1 Restate purpose and research question As mentioned above, the purpose of the research paper is to measure the level of satisfaction of the unskilled migrant worker in the UAE. The satisfaction can be measured in terms of the salary that the workers are paid, the number of working hours, whether they are provided with health insurance or not and the housing conditions where these workers live in. Our hypothesis is that the unskilled workers in the UAE have a lower level of satisfaction, 3.2 Population and sampling This is defined as selection of samples from amongst the population and the effects of various situations upon them, it’s a method used in statistical analysis. In our research we will be using the sample of construction workers and maids in Sharjah and Dubai. 3.3 Instrumentation The instrument that is employed in the research will be a questionnaire which will help to estimate the level of satisfaction that construction workers and cleaners experience in their jobs. The questionnaire will include the following questions: What is your nationality? How long have you been working here? What is your salary or wage/day? Are you paid for overtime work? How many hours per day do you work? How many off days do you get? Where do you live? How much money do you send back home? Are you satisfied with your work? 3.4 Procedure and time frame The questionnaire will be filled by the construction worker on the construction sites. If most of the workers do not know how to write, then the questionnaire will be read out to them. The time frame of the questionnaire is 5-7 minutes. 3.5 Analysis plan (state critical alpha level and type of statistical tests) Analysis plan It is an important part of the statistical analysis. 50% of the questionnaires were filled out by construction workers who were either Indian or Pakistani. Some of the questionnaires were also filled out by Philippine, Indonesian and Indian house maids. The results showed that almost 80% of the construction workers felt that they were not compensated enough for their work. 50% of the construction workers worked a 14 hour day and only 25% worked less than 14 hours. 85% of the questionnaires showed that these people who were questioned were not happy with their jobs. Almost 90% lived in the rural slums of Sharjah and Dubai and often the men shared the place with 10 or even more people. The average wage for all of these workers was below 8 dollars. The critical alpha level was .05 and the statistical tests employed were one test. Results Therefore in our case, our p value was greater than the significance level. This means that we do not reject the null hypothesis and therefore conclude that it is plausible. In our case, this means that the workers are indeed dissatisfied by their working conditions. This hypothesis therefore, holds true. We used .o5 as the critical alpha level.The statistical tests that we used for this research were one-sample t test, we had aest value of 50 and the mean difference came out to be 2.7 , which meant that the group of construction workers and maids had a higher mean of being dissatisfied. Summary and conclusion As migrant workers form the total 80 percent of the UAE workforce, there is a need for special accommodation for them. They live in camps and do not enjoy any facility. Environment is not feasible, toilets, sewage system and health conditions are not proper. They fall ill, receive and spread a variety of infections and their health is at a risk. Moreover, they do not have any health insurance and no free health care is available fir these people which is pathetic. Considerable fear and depression is seen amongst these workers. Safety problems are also there, if any one of them is injured or faces fatalities during his work then insurance policies should be there for them. Proper working environment, safe instrumentations and proper maintenance of this instrument is needed. Especially the equipment which is used during construction process, if not safe and updated is a continuous threat to the lives of poor workers. Discussion As our results show above, more than 50% of the people questioned were dissatisfied with their jobs. The main issues of these workers were the low wage rate and the disturbing living and working conditions. In my opinion, the main reasons why this result was found was because when it comes to labor laws, UAE does not follow them properly and there is a great degree of the violation of laws on part of the employers. In some instances these laws are not even present. Recommendations These issues are needed to be addressed. Amendments should be done by the human right activists and policy makers as well as the higher authorities, so that the plight of these innocent people can be decreased and there life standard and also the living conditions of there families can be improved. The UAE government should pass laws in accordance with the working conditions of these laborers and heavy fines should be imposed on those employers who violate these laws. REFERENCES Hadi.G., 2006. Building towers, cheating workers. Human rights organization Hinds Pamila S & King Cynthia S., 2003. Quality of life. Jones & Bartlett Learning Human Rights Watch, 2009.The Island of Happiness.[Online]. 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