DUBAI, 20 September 2005 — Nearly 1,000 Asian workers, the bulk of them Indians, yesterday staged a demonstration in Dubai in protest against non-payment of salaries, prompting the minister of labor to order their employer to settle their dues in 24 hours or lose the workers and face legal action.
The workers, employed by a construction company, marched from their work site at the huge Palm project and blocked traffic on Sheikh Zayed Road, the UAE’s main artery connecting Dubai with Abu Dhabi, for nearly two hours. Thousands of vehicles were held up, causing a massive traffic snarl.
Police rushed to the scene but it took some time before they could persuade the workers to return to their “labor camp” living quarters. No violence was reported.
The protesters, who included Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Nepalese and Sri Lankans in addition to the majority Indians, complained that they were not paid for between four and six months. Their employer is a contractor on the multibillion dirham Palm Island project of Nakheel, one of Dubai’s two biggest real estate companies. Nakheel has no direct connection with the workers, who are hired and paid for by the contractor.
Company officials said the contractor employed over 15,000 workers and pays them on rotation since they are employed at different construction sites, with the main project promoters setting different timings for settling their bills. The dispute involved about 2,000 workers who are owed about three million dirhams in wages dating back from May, according to representatives of the protesters.
The workers’ contract pay ranged between 600 and 900 dirhams per month.
Minister of Labour and Social Affairs Ali Abdullah Al Ka’abi, who has repeatedly issued warnings to local companies against failing to pay workers’ wages on time, took immediate action by ordering the contractor to settle the dues within 24 hours. The minister’s decision also said that failure on the part of the company to settle the dues would free the concerned workers to take up alternate employment and their visas would be transferred to their new employers without an otherwise mandatory no-objection certificate from their present employer, who will also face punitive action from the Ministry of Labor.
The minister’s decision is unprecedented in the UAE, where at least 800,000 Asians work on massive construction projects across Dubai, and it also sets an example for employers who default on wages to be paid to their employees.
