VZCZCXRO2501
RR RUEHHM
DE RUEHDE #1842/01 0861059
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 271059Z MAR 06
FM AMCONSUL DUBAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9510
INFO RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI 1387
RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHXI/LABOR COLLECTIVE
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHDE/AMCONSUL DUBAI 2440

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DUBAI 001842 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS TO USTR FOR DBELL, LKARESH, AROSENBERG 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  3/26/2016 
TAGS: PGOV ECON ECIN ASEC PREL ZP AE
SUBJECT: PROTESTING LABORERS AT DUBAI CONSTRUCTION SITE DAMAGE 
PROPERTY 
 
DUBAI 00001842  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Jason L. Davis, Consul General, Dubai, UAE. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (e) 
 
 
 
1.(SBU) Summary: On March 21, approximately 2500 laborers at a 
huge Dubai construction site, protesting their work conditions, 
smashed windows of vehicles and other equipment belonging to 
their employer.  The laborers, 90 percent Indian, then refused 
to work for another day and a half, leading to approximately one 
million dollars in combined lost productivity and damaged 
property.  Dubai Police told RSO the incident posed no threat to 
nearby residents or businesses.  Most local press coverage was 
sympathetic to the plight of the workers and at least one Friday 
sermon stressed the need to treat workers humanely.  End Summary. 
 
Protest at Burj Dubai 
---------------------- 
 
2.(C) On the evening of March 21, approximately 2500 laborers at 
a huge construction site that includes the "Burj Dubai" -- 
planned to be the world's tallest building on completion in 2008 
-- grew frustrated at their work conditions and staged a protest 
that culminated in large numbers of the workers smashing 
equipment belonging to their employers.  B.S. Mubarak, the 
Indian Labor Attache in Dubai, told PolEconoff the workers -- 90 
percent of them Indian -- damaged roughly 20 vehicles (broken 
windows and dents from thrown rocks) and wrecked several 
timecard machines.  Mubarak -- who has spoken about the matter 
with Dubai's Permanent Committee of Labor Affairs -- said the 
million dollar figure in damages is almost solely lost 
productivity, rather than damaged property. 
 
3.(U) The protest was covered in the local media, and was even 
picked up by AP, which led to coverage in the international 
press. Lieutenant Colonel Rashid Bakhit Al Jumairi, an Interior 
Ministry official investigating the matter, was quoted in the 
local Khaleej Times newspaper saying workers trashed on-site 
offices - breaking windows and computers - consistent with 
various reports of rock throwing.  (Note: In addition to Burj 
Dubai, the construction site in question encompasses more than 
20 other towers being built concurrently.  Samsung Corporation, 
the main contractor for the Burj Dubai, said in a press release 
that work continued at Burj Dubai itself, and that the 
protesting workers were idle only on surrounding buildings. 
PolEconOff drove past the construction site on the afternoon of 
March 23 and saw no activity at any of the buildings.  While the 
road offered little view of the surrounding ground level, no 
evidence of a riot or damaged vehicles was readily apparent. End 
Note.) 
 
4.(U) The laborers' main complaints centered on poor 
transportation service from their residence camps to the 
construction site (requiring long unpaid waits before and after 
their shift), an insufficient number of timecard machines 
forcing workers to wait long periods before clocking in and out 
and causing some "late" workers to be docked pay, and inadequate 
medical care.  Workers did not claim unpaid wages, a common 
feature of many protests in the UAE, though many called for 
higher wages and overtime pay. 
 
5.(SBU) Laborers returned to the construction site but refused 
to work until mid-day March 23, and even then, according to a 
Khaleej Times eyewitness, only after being threatened with 
deportation.  The Dubai branch of the UAE Labor Ministry served 
as an intermediary between the workers and their employer, 
subcontractor Al Naboodah Laing O'Rourke (a private joint 
venture founded in 1977 between Al Naboodah and John Laing Group 
of the UK), seeking to identify and resolve the workers' 
complaints.  Labor and police officials condemned the 
destruction of property but did not make any arrests, vowing to 
prosecute future vandalism.  The company has reportedly already 
revised the bus schedule, arranged for more timecard machines 
and agreed to provide better medical care.  It will also not 
dock workers' pay for the protest period or late attendance 
where they are not at fault, according to Mubarak and the 
Khaleej Times. 
 
6.(U) Meanwhile, on March 22, around 2500 other laborers also 
employed by Al Naboodah Laing O'Rourke participated in a brief 
strike at the construction site of Dubai International Airport's 
new terminal, as a sign of solidarity. 
 
Dubai Police: Incident Posed No Threat 
 
DUBAI 00001842  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
--------------------------------------- 
 
7.(C) In response to inquiries related to international press 
reports of a violent protest in Dubai, RSO spoke with Colonel 
Abdullah Khan, Dubai Police, who said there had indeed been an 
incident on March 21 at 1920, in the vicinity of the Burj Dubai. 
 Police confirmed the destruction of some property but indicated 
there was never any threat.  The incident had no effect on 
residents or businesses in Dubai, most of whom learned about it 
by reading coverage in local papers Thursday -- two days after 
the initial protest.  Unlike some previous labor protests, the 
Al-Nabooda workers did not leave their construction site or 
impede traffic flows. The Burj Dubai construction site is 
approximately 2 miles south of the Consulate in a large patch of 
former desert just off Sheikh Zayed Road, a major thoroughfare 
flanked by hotels and apartment buildings, including several 
that house Consulate employees. 
 
Widespread Sympathy Toward Worker Conditions 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
8.(SBU) The incident generated several opinion articles 
sympathetic to the workers.  A Gulf News column stated, "Nothing 
less than more intensive campaigns to enforce rights of workers 
and inspection of labor camps can put an end to this problem." 
Likewise, a government approved Friday sermon in Dubai March 24 
extolled the value of treating hired help well. "Employers must 
not be unjust and not grant laborers their rights, because these 
laborers have left their homes and children and now they are 
dealing with loneliness in strange countries in order to help 
their families." 
 
Comment 
-------- 
 
9.(SBU) While labor protests are increasingly common in the UAE, 
this event is one of very few incidents involving foreign 
workers featuring violence or rioting.  The vast majority of 
labor protests in the UAE have been peaceful and have not 
involved destruction of property.  The government is trying to 
defuse tensions before protests happen by offering hotlines to 
report unpaid wages and asking local consulates to tell their 
citizens to file complaints with the ministries before engaging 
in protests. 
 
10.(SBU) Increasing government attention to the plight of many 
foreign laborers in the UAE, and the recent tolerance for 
peaceful protest, may indicate the UAEG is moving toward a 
greater openness to collective worker action, although the UAE 
has not yet committed to allowing collective bargaining for 
foreign workers.  A year ago, it was highly unlikely that 
workers would risk protesting, out of fear that they would be 
immediately deported. 
DAVIS