Workers’ rights a mirage in Dubai

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Stories of human abuse still manage to shock me. I often think that I have seen everything. And in a way this particular story is not much different to others. This story in The New York Times talks about seriously volatile labour problems in Dubai’s construction sector.

Here workers get up at dawn in desert dormitories from overcrowded small rooms, are bused to work, pour concrete in temperatures that top 110 degree and earn about $1 per hour. To improve their working conditions, strikes and riots have been held by construction workers.

In itself the human abuse is shocking. What got to me was the fact that Dubai glitters as this fabulous mirage of a city in the middle of a desert. It is a man made paradise where the rich and gorgeous live it up either by entertaining in their luxury pads on one of the man made little islands or shopping up a storm at the malls.  With other words there is no shortage of money with which to pay decent wages.

There are 1.2 million foreign construction workers in Dubai. In fact, Dubai would not be able to showcase their garish taste in architecture without the foreign workers. The Kingdom has only 800 000 citizens. Hardly a drop in the ocean in terms of the workforce they need to keep the building boom going.

It is not only the construction industry that craves foreign workers. The rest of the economy runs on foreign manpower with 99% of the private workforce coming from outside the country. They make up about 4.5 million people.

Usually one hears of extraordinary good salaries offered as incentives to work and live in the Emerites. It is therefore a bit of a shock to read about the conditions that the construction workers have to labour under.  Not only are the working conditions bad, but many workers have had to pay large broker fees to get to Dubai and some have even been cheated of their meagre pay packages.

Presumably because the construction industry does not need highly skilled people, it is easier to source cheap labour. Furthermore for people coming from countries such as Bangladesh and India salaries of $1 per hour are far more than they are able to earn in their home cities.

It’s just a pity that because people are desperate, they are taken advantage of. It’s called exploitation. It’s a particularly nasty human character trait that comes out regularly. Kick a person who is down already.

There are further factors at play here according to the article. The small country is fearful of these huge numbers of foreign workers.  One of the reasons for the bad living conditions is to keep workers separated from the regular citizens to ensure no dilution of the Arab population.  It seems the UAE is taking xenophobia to another level. Yet they are happy to accept the work, just don’t settle in the country.

Migrant labour is not a new trend and was generally found in agriculture. Additional workers were required for such seasonal activities as planting and harvesting.  In the case of Dubai, some construction workers have been working in Dubai for years.

One could say that they are no longer migrant workers, but constitute a regular and more permanent workforce which would require some higher standards of employment such as medical aid and reasonable accommodation. Lets hope that the strikes and labour unrest will bring improvements to the lives of these people who are desperate to feed their families and improve their lot in life.