New mechanism to handle workers' sit-ins

Lt General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, has approved a mechanism for handling workers' sit-ins.

Sheikh Saif's nod coincides with a marked drop of 50 per cent in workers' sit-ins nationwide during the first quarters of 2010 and 2011. Delay in payment of salaries accounted for 50 per cent of reasons forcing workers to lay down their tools.

Lt General Dhahi Tamim Khalfan, Chairman of the Higher Committee for Labour Crises Management, said Sheikh Saif's approval of specific methodology to address workers' sit-ins highlights the government's policy to stand with workers demanding their lawful rights under a frameworks that guarantees return of rights to original claimants and preserves security.

This legal right, he asserted, is a clear response to the US-based Human Rights Watch's report which stated that workers in UAE were denied collective organisation and bargaining and were facing punishment if they stopped working.

According to him, the committee handles contents of international reports, especially from Human Rights Watch, with full transparency and impartiality as they are full allegations and lack credibility.

"The mechanism is tasked with identifying and diagnosing diverse causes and dimensions of workers' sit-ins - whether peaceful or not - in order to find adequate solutions to them without compromising workers' rights nor security and stability of the UAE, a host of 215 nationalities working and living in a serene atmosphere of security, stability and tolerance," Khalfan explained.

He further indicated that the mechanism will also assess the magnitude of the problem and extent of company's compliance with signed contracts in provision of basic services and requirements of workers in light of the federal labour law.

Towards addressing labour concerns, he said, the committee will reach out to workers to educate them about their labour rights and to other relevant stakeholders with the aim of safeguarding security and peace of community members and sparing them negatives of sit-ins.

Khalfan, who is also Commander-in-Chief of Dubai Police, said, the mechanism will receive reports through phone, online or in writing form or through any other means after which a team will swiftly move to the sit-in site within 15 minutes while specialists are expected to arrive within 45 minutes to gather preliminary inputs about the cause of the sit-in, summon the company's representative then hold a joint employer-worker meeting to discuss the workers' demands and work out a settlement to them through a signature of a commitment by the company.

"The mechanism will be the sole trouble-shooter of workers' sit-ins but it will differentiate workers demanding their legitimate rights or rioters who damage public property and intimidate members of the community in a way that serves none of the disputing parties.

He added that coordination will be made with the Department for Naturalisation and Foreigners' Affairs to finalise their deportation after making sure they get all their due financial or other rights from their employers.

Speaking about labour troubles emirate-wise, Lt General Dhahi Tamim Khalfan, said sit-ins in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah decreased to 14, 10 and 6 respectively in the first quarter of 2011 from 21, 26 and 10 in the same period in 2010.

In Ajman and Ras Al Khaimah, he added, sit-ins dropped to 1 and 3 from 3 and 6 respectively for the quarters under review.

"While no sit-ins were reported in the emirates of Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain during January-March 2011, Fujairah saw one sit-in and Umm Al Quwain two in the first quarter of 2010," he noted.

Speaking about factors behind sit-ins, Khalfan gave delay payment of salaries 50 per cent, demand for salary increase 30 per cent and non-calculation of overtime hours 20 per cent.

In the first quarter of 2011, he added, labour inspectors conducted 58 visits to workers' villages in Abu Dhabi, 616 in Dubai, 554 in Sharjah, 86 in Ajman and 7 in Ras Al Khaimah.

He noted that 87 per cent of companies in Dubai complied with housing requirements.