(Dubai, March 25, 2007) – The United Arab Emirates’
proposed labor law falls far short of international
standards for workers’ rights, Human Rights Watch
said in a report released today. The law should be
revised to protect workers’ rights to organize,
bargain collectively and strike, and to cover
excluded groups such as domestic workers
On February 5, the UAE Labor Ministry published a
draft of a revised labor law on the internet and
invited public comment. Human Rights Watch welcomed
the move, but has provided critiques and
recommendations on a number of issues.
In a 15-page report, Human Rights Watch details how the
UAE’s draft labor law violates international
standards – and how it needs to be revised. The law
fails to address a series of abuses against workers
that Human Rights Watch has documented in two
reports published within the past year. Migrant
workers, who comprise 95 percent of the country’s
workforce, are particularly at risk of abuse.
“The Labor Ministry’s request for comments on the
draft law represents an important step toward reform
and transparency in the UAE,” said Sarah Leah
Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.
“We hope that the Labor Ministry takes advantage of
this process to revise the serious flaws in its
draft law.”
In blatant contravention of international standards,
the proposed law contains no provisions on workers’
rights to organize and to bargain collectively and
explicitly punishes striking workers. The UAE is
currently undergoing a dramatic construction boom,
and most of the 700,000 construction workers in the
country are from South Asian countries such as
India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
In a report released in November, “Building Towers,
Cheating Workers,” Human Rights Watch documented the
government’s refusal to allow construction workers
to organize trade unions and to bargain
collectively, and the recent passage of a resolution
banning striking workers from employment for at
least one year.
“The UAE must amend its draft law to respect
workers’ rights to organize, bargain collectively
and strike,” said Whitson. “In the past year, the
authorities have put down attempted strikes with
violence rather than addressing the poor working
conditions that fuel labor unrest.”
The draft
labor law also violates international
standards by arbitrarily excluding from
its purview all domestic workers
employed in private households, public
sector workers, security workers and
most farming and grazing workers,
leaving them at risk of exploitation.
In a report released in July 2006,
“Swept Under the Rug,” Human Rights
Watch documented how domestic workers in
the UAE have few remedies in cases of
abuse. Domestic workers often report
exploitative working conditions,
including forced confinement, nonpayment
of wages, denial of food, and excessive
working hours with no rest days. The UAE
employs more than 600,000 domestic
workers, primarily from Sri Lanka, the
Philippines and Indonesia.
“The government should extend equal
labor protections to domestic workers
instead of reinforcing the
discrimination that they already face,”
said Whitson.
In addition, the draft law includes a
number of provisions that discriminate
against women workers. In violation of
international human rights norms banning
discrimination on the basis of sex, the
proposed law limits women’s access to
nighttime employment and “heavy” work.
By sanctioning punishment for male
guardians who violate the laws
applicable to women, the law treats
women workers as dependents rather than
as competent adults with full and
independent legal capacity.
The draft labor law also fails to
incorporate the 2001 Dubai Court of
Cassation ruling that prohibited
employers from confiscating the
passports of employees. In its report on
construction workers in the UAE, Human
Rights Watch found that the court’s
ruling, in practice, has had virtually
no impact.
“It’s an open secret that employers in
the UAE often confiscate the passports
of their employees,” Whitson said. “Yet
the government chooses to ignore this
widespread and illegal practice and
refuses to punish the offending
employers.”
Human Rights Watch urged that the
proposed labor law require that
employment contracts and instructions be
made available to workers in a language
they speak fluently to combat the
misinformation and deception that
further fuel the exploitation of migrant
workers in the UAE.
The government should show real
commitment to enforcing its labor laws
by providing effective penalties for
violations of the law and punishing
employers who violate the law. The
current law continues to provide weak
financial penalties of between 6,000 and
12,000 dirhams (US$1,600-3,200) for
employers found in breach of the law.
“The new labor law will not be able to
curb employer abuses if it’s not coupled
with serious enforcement and real
penalties,” said Whitson. “The current
fine of a few thousand dollars isn’t
even a slap on the wrist for employers
with multi-million-dollar contracts.”
(Source: HRW)
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