Hundreds of employees of etislalat’s 181 directory service are not under the company’s sponsorship, Gulf News has learnt.
The call centre employees, who are based in Ajman, say they have never been issued with employment visas or labour cards. They told Gulf News they are paid Dh16 per hour but have no contract. Many of them have been working there for more than five or six years.
“I was sponsored by my father,” said a 25-year-old Arab employee, who has been at the centre for five years. “I was able to obtain a visa from a company in Dubai and am working at etisalat,” he said.
Another employee, who has been working there for three years, said he was sponsored by his father. His sponsorship is going to expire in three months, he added.
A woman employee said she worked for the call centre for one and a half years but has stopped working for them now.
“I was on the sponsorship of my father,” she said…SOURCE
For seven long months, driven by want and hunger, these unpaid industrial workers have been surviving on fish they catch each day.
More than 50 workers of Asian descent employed in a Sharjah dhow and shipbuilding firm say they have been driven to the desperate act as they have not received salaries for seven months.
They gathered in protest at Al Buhaira Corniche near the Millennium Hotel in Sharjah on Thursday afternoon. They told Khaleej Times they were not provided with food, forcing them to catch fish every day, which they grilled to ward off hunger.
Police officials at the protest site refused to talk to the Press. However, they asked the protesters to nominate three representatives to present their charter of demands to the company. The rest were sent back.
Arshad, one of the protesters, said the company based in Al Hamriya Free Zone specialised in making yachts, dhows and ships. Salaries in the range of Dh1,500 to Dh3,000, depending on the type of work, remained unpaid… “We are suffering from lack of food and have no money to send back to our families waiting for us,” Arshad said. “We only just want our salary due and the company can send us back home. We eat sea fish and drink dirty water. What a life it is! It’s better to go back home than being humiliated this way,” he added… SOURCE
DUBAI – The United Arab Emirates said on Tuesday it would move to bring down the cost of basic food items charged by retailers because they were no longer appropriate following a slump in world commodity prices.
The second-largest Arab economy last year signed a series of agreements with supermarket chains to fix the cost of basic food items such as sugar, cooking oil, rice and flour at 2007 levels in an effort to curb inflation at a 20-year peak.
But many of those prices now exceed the global average by 25 percent after oil prices collapsed almost $100 a barrel from a peak last July, said Hashim Saeed Al-Neaimi, the manager of consumer protection at the UAE’s Ministry of Economy.
“We need to match the overall downturn in global food prices,” Neaimi told Reuters.
The ministry planned to sign new deals with retailers to reduce fixed selling prices for foods, which would also cut into retailers’ profit margins, he said.
“Since food prices have gone down globally it is only fair to bring them down here too and this will take effect in about one to two weeks’ time,” Neaimi said…SOURCE
The Ministry of Labour is carrying out a nationwide three-pronged programme to improve the living and working conditions of labourers, officials said today.
The campaign will target unscrupulous recruitment agencies based abroad that the ministry says are responsible for the exploitation of some labourers.
The ministry also plans to raise awareness within the labourer population by publishing a guide book in eight languages. It will also continue to hold seminars with companies highlighting good health and safety practices.
“The launch of the guide book is imminent and it is meant to raise awareness within the labour population in the country about their rights and what they can do to preserve that,” a high-ranking official said on the sidelines of a meeting between the ministry and business leaders in Sharjah today…SOURCE
It is the promise of a land of opportunity that has brought an estimated one million migrant workers to Dubai. Most come from areas of extreme poverty in the Indian sub-continent where they are easy prey for recruitment agents. Paying up to £2,000 pounds to make the trip, the sum often has to be borrowed or family land sold in the belief that within 18 months the debt can be repaid.
Instead, on arriving in Dubai they are met with shanty town conditions hidden from public view. In a country that penalises journalists reporting stories which negatively reflect the economy or insult the government with massive fines and in the past even imprisonment, Panorama had to maintain a low profile.
In secret, Ben Anderson followed a group of workers home from work. Employed by The First Group’s sub-contractors United Engineering Construction, they were working on a development due to be finished in June ready for Michael Owen to move in.
Back at the worker’s camp Ben was soon rumbled and asked to leave. Returning over the next few days he finally managed to speak to some of the men living there on condition of anonymity.
“We suffer greatly”
They told a grim tale. None had been paid the money they were promised by the recruitment agencies and many said they could not afford to eat properly, living on a diet of mashed potatoes and lentils.
Average salaries are often no more than £120 a month. This for a six-day week, often working up to 12 hour shifts. One company paid approximately 30 pence an hour for overtime.
UNEC said that its minimum basic salary and overtime rate were significantly higher and that employees only worked 12 hour days in exceptional circumstances.
It said its workers were fully aware of their proposed terms of employment before travelling to Dubai and that it “wholly disapproved” of workers paying recruitment agents. It also said that it only recruited through one agency in India, but the workers we spoke to came from elsewhere.
The First Group said its own checks had confirmed that the pay and conditions at the camp were legal.
The camp is a world away from the penthouses these construction workers were building. But this is not an isolated example.
One of Dubai’s biggest new developments is The Jumeirah Golf Estates, which will host the climax of the European Golf championship in November. The main developer is Leisurecorp, which also owns the championship golf course at Turnberry in Scotland, and has a stake in Troon. Jumeirah Golf Estates has attracted an incredible array of celebrities who are named as ambassadors on its website , including Jamie Oliver, Greg Norman, Vijay Singh and Sergio Garcia.
Our reporter once again followed workers back to their accommodation. This time they were employed by one of Dubai’s biggest construction firms Arabtec to work on a part of the development that had been sold to a sub-developer, but the picture was familiar.
After an hour-long journey back to their gated and guarded labour camp, the men agreed to speak to Panorama if their identities were kept secret for fear of retribution.
Armed with a secret camera Ben sneaked into the camp to be met with the smell of raw sewage. Sewage had leaked out all over the camp, and workers had to create a network stepping stones to cross it and get back to their accommodation blocks. One toilet block had no water supply and the latrines were filled with piles of raw faeces…SOURCE
While USA2UAE makes no claims as to use, the above program is available via torrent on Mininova (CLICK HERE TO GET SEED)
Dubai: Emirates airline yesterday announced that it has decided to offer unpaid leave to its cabin crew.
“After a careful review of our operational requirements, we have decided to offer our cabin crew staff the opportunity to apply for unpaid leave on a purely voluntary basis, starting from May 2009. In anticipation of our growing fleet, Emirates’ recruitment efforts over the past 12 months have been highly successful in meeting our operational requirements. Combined with a sharp drop in cabin crew attrition, we now find ourselves in a position to be more flexible as an employer,” an Emirates spokesperson said in a statement.
“We believe some of our staff will welcome the opportunity to take time off to pursue personal interests such as: further studies, hobbies, or simply to spend time with family and friends,” the airline said.
Cabin crew may opt for unpaid leave from a period of one month up to a maximum of six months. “While on leave they will still be employees of the airline, and continue to be eligible for various benefits including paid accommodation and travel concessions.”…
The UAE economy may contract this year due to the global credit crisis, Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, the Minister of Economy, said today.
“There could be some contraction,“ Mr al Mansouri Ck said in Dubai. “If the world economy goes on like this it will be contractive.”
He stressed, however, that the UAE would be less affected than many other countries, although the oil price was one of the key determinants of how the Emirates would fare.
Mr al Mansouri said the Government had not received any demands to help big companies with additional funds. “No big companies have requested extra liquidity until now,” he said. Many companies, particularly big developers, are said to have fallen behind on their payments as funds are hard to raise.
Mr al Mansouri added that it was “not an option right now” to liquidate either Tamweel or Amlak, the country’s two largest Islamic lenders. He said a merger remained “one of the good options”… SOURCE
Feeling the worsening global slowdown, many of UAE’s companies — mainly in the property, construction and financial sectors — have laid off hundreds of workers. Construction companies have delayed or canceled projects, banks are tightening lending and tourism is slowing. Some companies have given their employees a period of two to three months to look for alternative work — but jobs are rare because most companies are freezing recruitment.
The Federal National Council on Tuesday voiced concern over the dismissal of a number of Emiratis from the private sector and questioned the Labour Minister about the measures his ministry has taken to tackle the issue.
Saqr Gobash Saeed Gobash, Minister of Labour, assured the House that while the ministry is taking the matter seriously, it should not be blown out of proportion.
“Sixty-four Emiratis have filed labour-related complaints at the ministry of labour between January 2008 and February 15, 2009. Out of around 15,000 Emiratis employed by the private sector, only 37 workers complained to the ministry over dismissal. Twenty-seven others complained over unpaid salaries and other dues. Of these complaints, 16 were settled amicably, 12 filed with the court and nine were shelved after the complainants either failed to show up at the ministry of withdrew their complaints,” Gobash said.
He added the new ministerial decision set conditions on termination of Emirati workers. Private sector companies will face legal action if they sack Emiratis who have not violated the labour law.
The decision came after Al Futtaim Group sacked a number of Emiratis.
Al Futtaim Group said they were terminated because the company was “restructured in light of the current global financial crisis.”…
03/03/2009 11:06 PM | By Rayeesa Absal, Staff Reporter
Abu Dhabi: As much as 3.5 per cent of the UAE’s gross domestic product (GDP), which amounts to Dh10.5 billion, is wasted annually as a result of traffic congestion, an official has said.
“We lose around Dh10.5 billion on traffic congestion annually, if we take into account both passenger traffic on the streets as well as heavy goods traffic. This is 3.5 per cent of the UAE’s GDP and is a considerable amount lost annually”, said Dr Salem Al Shafiei, a veteran transport planner who is the managing director of Dubai Real Estate Institute….
Dubai: Residents working in the private sector feel that the shift of the holiday marking the Prophet Mohammad’s (PBUH) birthday from Monday to Saturday is “discriminatory” as it strips them of a holiday that those in the public sector will enjoy.
Malcolm Kemp, a manager at an Abu Dhabi-based telecommunications company who has his weekends on Fridays and Saturdays, said: “Again, the poor private sector is stitched up regarding the forthcoming public holiday. The decision discriminates between the public and private sector. The Ministry of Labour is sadly out of touch if it assumes that most people in the private sector only have Friday off.”
While the public sector will celebrate the holiday on Sunday, the ministry had announced that, for the private sector, the holiday would fall on Monday. But a circular issued by Minister of Labour Saqr Gobash on Sunday shifted the holiday to Saturday…
Why can’t they just follow the religious holiday? Isn’t that the halal solution?
03/02/2009 09:04 AM | By Wafa Issa, Staff Reporter
Dubai: The Ministry of Labour is reviewing the six-month work ban, enforced when a person cancels work permit, to facilitate labour movements within the country, an official said.
Abdul Razzaq Qambar, training officer at the ministry’s inspection department, said during a seminar on wages, aimed at raising awareness on workers’ rights, that a review of the six-month ban was on the table.
“The ministry is studying different means to facilitate labour movement within the country and the reviewing of the ban is part of this,” said Qambar.
However, no time frame was given.
Jasem Al Banna, head of the legal affairs department at the ministry, said during the seminar that people had the right to progress in their career and they should not be prevented from doing so.
Currently, the ministry enforces a six-month ban on working in the country if the worker who cancels his permit does not have a no-objection certificate from his employer.
The ban does not apply if the person has been working in the company for more than three years. The seminar outlined the six major violations committed by companies hit by the global economic downturn.
During the past four months, the ministry has seen an increase in cases where employees have not been paid in more than a month, cases where salaries have been reduced without workers’ consent…
Commuters battling huge traffic snarls between Dubai and Sharjah will be able to breathe easy with the much-anticipated opening of Al Qiyadah Intersection for traffic today.
The project, a part of the first phase of the Al Ittihad Road Improvement Plan of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), is expected to reduce traffic jams by 27 per cent, an official told Khaleej Times.
The two-lane underpass of the intersection has been widened to four lanes in each direction.
The number of vehicles using the route is all set to increase with the RTA estimating it to be around 6,000 vehicles per hour.
The interchange also includes a two-lane bridge serving traffic from Abu Hail and Salahuddin Road towards Sharjah, in addition to another two-lane bridge for vehicles coming from Al Quds Street towards Al Ittihad Road in the direction of Dubai.
Phase one of the project also includes the widening of the Al Ittihad Road to 16 lanes — eight in each direction.
The Al Mulla Plaza Intersection will be opened to March 10, thereby completing phase one.
The whole Ittihad Road Improvement Plan project consists of two phases initially. Phase two focuses on Airport Road, Shaikh Rashid Road until Garhoud Bridge. The work on this phase has begun and will be completed by the end of the year, the official said.
The Al Mulla Plaza Intersection, once completed, will be able to accommodate around 4,800 vehicles per hour in each direction…SOURCE
Seems like some people agree with our interpretation of the new law. Ultimately, this will cost UAE nationals jobs in exchange for a small amount of protection for those who already have jobs.
Private-sector companies are more likely to employ Emiratis because of a new government policy that protects them from being laid off, a labour official said yesterday to counter claims to the contrary.
Feddah Lootah, the acting director general of the National Human Resource Development and Employment Authority (Tanmia), said Emiratis would feel more secure in their jobs knowing they cannot be laid off. As a result, they will “increase their productivity, performance and loyalty”. Companies will become aware of that trend and will recruit more Emiratis, she said.
In contrast, some business owners and analysts have described the guidelines, announced on Wednesday by the Ministry of Labour, as “counterproductive” and “inflexible”.
Under the new policy, private companies may not dismiss Emiratis except in cases of serious misconduct. If a company wants to dismiss an Emirati for any reason, including financial difficulty, it must notify the ministry one month in advance.
“This new law protects the national workforce of the country and, like any country in the world, the national workforce is the most valuable asset and wealth,” said Mrs Lootah, whose agency is charged with the task of finding jobs for Emiratis. “Hence, all efforts made by governments are to be channelled towards achieving stability and prosperity to its people.”
She said the UAE would seek to protect the rights of all workers, Emirati and expatriate, from unlawful and unfair redundancies.
The new policy also stipulates that underperforming Emiratis could not be sacked but must be given more training or transferred to work more suited to their skills.
Paul Dyer, a research associate at the Dubai School of Government, who specialises in labour policy, said the new rules were “a worrisome precedent” that may serve as a disincentive to be productive.
“This kind of legislation sends strong signals to those who are not motivated from within, that they do not have to put much effort to keep their jobs, and therefore, reinforces a cycle that already exists within private businesses of not hiring Emiratis,” he said. “Hence, firms will resist much more than in the past from hiring Emiratis.”…SOURCE
Stories like this one in Gulf News merely fuel an already suffering business climate. I am for equality in all laws regarding redundancy and firing. In fact, if you don’t give businesses that protection they will be extremely reluctant to hire UAE nationals. This will hit a population that is already stigmatized by much of the international business community. If there is a possibility of litigation every time HR raises a finger in your firm, you simply won’t bother.
I support our Emirati students and friends seeking employment. However, punishing businesses should not be the way forward. Equality of labor laws and ‘real’ affirmative action are…
02/17/2009 10:41 PM | By Wafa Issa, Staff Reporter
Dubai: A group of Emiratis made redundant last week by “global economic downturn” is considering the filing of a lawsuit against their former employer for “arbitrary termination” if the Ministry of Labour fails to resolve their issue.
Last week, about 20 Emiratis filed a complaint with the Ministry against the Al Futtaim Group for “arbitrary termination” and demanded reinstatement.
Ahmad Al Naqbi, one of the Emiratis, who lost his job, told Gulf News, that they are in talks with a law firm to prepare a lawsuit against the Group.
“We will file a case to demand compensation for the arbitrary termination in addition to compensation for moral and psychological damages, but we will wait until the Ministry gives us a formal response to our case before we go ahead with the case,” said Al Naqbi…SOURCE
labourers, officials said today.
wasted annually as a result of traffic congestion, an official has said.
The number of vehicles using the route is all set to increase with the RTA estimating it to be around 6,000 vehicles per hour.
