JEDDAH, 6 January 2003 — Four months ago, employees of the Jeddah-based United Construction Company (UCC) filed a complaint at the Labor Office demanding back-payment for salaries that had not been paid since March.

The Labor Office decided in favor of the employees and ordered UCC to pay within 30 days, but to date only a fraction of the total amount due has been paid. As a result, the employees have contacted their Saudi sponsor, in a letter, a copy of which was obtained by Arab News.

“Please help us now, we have been suffering for a very long time as have our families back home,” the letter reads. “We knew that you are not aware of the barbaric attitude of the management. It’s been 10 months since the company has withheld our salaries and our food allowances.”

Arab News has learned that 16 employees of the Riyadh office of UCC are owed salaries totaling SR228,535. The company also has employees in its Jeddah offices who are facing the same predicament.

Rosendo Viloria, a plumber in the Riyadh office, is owed SR17,144 and is still in the Kingdom despite the fact that his contract expired three months ago. He has received only SR2,102 during the past 10 months.

“I have not been able to send any money to my family in the Philippines,” he said yesterday. “They are suffering as a result. I need to get the money owed to me and then get back to the Philippines. I’ve just found out that someone is bothering my child at home but I’m not being allowed an exit visa despite the fact that I’ve fulfilled my contractual obligations.”

UCC is owned by Michael Karabian, who was not available for comment. However, the vice president of the company, Ziad Al-Rasheed, told Arab News: “It’s true that we haven’t paid several employees at our Jeddah and Riyadh offices for several months. UCC is owed money by several clients which totals millions of riyals. We allocate SR3,000,000 to salaries every year, but have received nothing from our clients. That’s why we’ve been unable to pay. Our working capital is only SR1,000,000.”

When Arab News asked Al-Rasheed why the company has ignored the Labor Office verdict against the company, he said: “When the Labor Office ruled four months ago, we had no money. We’ve since negotiated a plan with our clients which will allow us to start paying what is owed. We’ve ordered our Riyadh office to pay one month’s salary to all employees. We’re working on paying the remaining nine months’ salary.”

In another letter sent to Arab News, several of the employees detailed their plight.

“We are employees of this company who have been working here for up to eight years,” it reads. “Some of us have not been paid for as long as a year. When we requested our salaries, we were given one month’s pay. This small amount of money does not allow us to live our life or support our families. When we have complained in the past, company officials confiscated our iqamas. There have been incidents of some of us being hit by company officials. We have no money for living, food or transport. We are requesting the help of the Saudi authorities. We wish to return to our countries. We need help with payment of all our accounts, exit visas and air tickets.”

Employee Viloria told Arab News: “We have fulfilled our contractual obligations despite not being paid for several months. We have filed a complaint with the Labor Office, which UCC has all but ignored. We have now requested the help of the Saudi sponsor of UCC. What more can we do?”

This situation is not unusual here in the Kingdom. Many of the thousands of expatriates caught in similar circumstances also file complaints at the Labor Office, which frequently rules in their favor. However, there is no mechanism in place to enforce compliance with the official decision.

“The only other option is for us to file a complaint with the Labor Court,” Viloria continued, referring to the higher court to which those who do not get results from the Labor Office verdicts can resort.

“But that will take almost one year. We cannot stay here with no money until the court decides we should be paid. And if the court does decide in our favor, will that make UCC pay?”