VZCZCXRO7426
PP RUEHDH RUEHDIR
DE RUEHDE #0279/01 1891304
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P R 081304Z JUL 09
FM AMCONSUL DUBAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6552
INFO RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI 3592
RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUEHDE/AMCONSUL DUBAI 9841

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DUBAI 000279 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/FO; NEA/ARP/BMASILKO; OBO/CFSM/CM/DHOGAN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV AMGT PHUM AE
SUBJECT: NEW CONSULATE COMPOUND -- ENSURING LABOR BEST PRACTICES 
 
REF: G/TIP REPORT 
 
DUBAI 00000279  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  With significant recent negative media 
attention focused on labor issues in the UAE, including the UAE 
being downgraded in the annual TIP Report (reftel), the 
Consulate General is working with the Bureau of Overseas 
Buildings Operations (OBO) and the contractor B.L. Harbert, to 
ensure Dubai's New Consulate Compound (NCC) project will meet or 
exceed all UAE labor laws and standards.  With all parties 
agreeing on the importance of the issue, the Consul General 
visited the former "Atlantis Man Camp"--the Palm Jumeirah labor 
accommodation where some of the NCC workers are housed--on June 
10, 2009.  The camp is a clean and orderly facility that appears 
to comply with or exceed all relevant UAE and Dubai standards. 
 
 
 
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NCC Basics 
 
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¶2. (U) Projected to be completed by 2011, the NCC is being built 
in Bur Dubai on a six-acre site adjacent to the Dubai Creek and 
the Consulates of Saudi Arabia and Qatar, on land donated to the 
U.S. by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Ruler of 
Dubai.  The Department contracted with Harbert to construct the 
NCC project.  OBO has direct hire Foreign Service staff onsite 
providing oversight of the entire construction effort. 
 
 
 
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Local Labor Issues 
 
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¶3. (U) Harbert plans to fully comply or exceed local labor laws 
including in key areas such as recruitment, contracts, housing, 
and healthcare. 
 
 
 
¶4. (U) Labor recruitment:  Harbert is using contract labor from 
several Asian countries -- the majority from India.  Harbert 
pays all recruiting fees and prohibits its recruiters from 
charging additional fees to employees.  (Less scrupulous 
recruiters often charge employees exorbitant fees at times 
exceeding the equivalent of two years' wages, which ultimately 
place these employees into debt bondage situations.)  Harbert's 
policy clearly states that it would immediately cease its 
association with any recruiter found violating this policy. 
 
 
 
¶5. (U) Labor contracts in local languages:  The employment 
contracts used by Harbert are standard Dubai government-approved 
contracts.  Official copies are presently available only in 
Hindi, Arabic, and English.  However, Harbert is considering 
having the contracts translated into several other sub 
continental languages, such as Malaysian and Urdu as the need 
arises. 
 
 
 
¶6. (U) Guaranteed salary payment:  Harbert workers are paid one 
grade above the current prevailing Dubai wage levels for similar 
positions making Harbert's salaries higher than most 
competitors.  Harbert's minimum guaranteed salary is AED 950 per 
month for an unskilled worker, higher than other projects in 
Dubai.  Harbert employees are also paid time and a quarter for 
overtime and time and a half for Friday or night work.  Harbert 
pays contract workers (via exchange house "UAE Exchange," also 
use by the U.S. Consulate in Dubai) in cash once a month at the 
exchange rate agreed upon in the employee's original contract. 
Employees have the option to remit some or all of their salary 
for a percentage fee via UAE Exchange.  (Comment.  It has been 
reported that some laborers find themselves in situations where 
they sign a contract -- in their country of origin -- and agree 
on a salary, but discover later that the salary has been 
changed.  Harbert ensures it pays employees the rate agreed upon 
in the original contracts, and will ensure that the correct 
rates are stated when the contracts are translated into the 
employee's local language.  End Comment.) 
 
DUBAI 00000279  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
 
 
 
¶7. (U) Availability of passports:  Many employers control the 
movement of their employees by taking possession of their 
passports upon arrival in the UAE.  Harbert does hold all of its 
employees' passports in a secure facility on the construction 
site for their security; however, we have been assured that the 
passports are available to any worker upon request.  (Note: 
Harbert's American managers keep their passports in the same 
secure facility.) 
 
 
 
¶8. (U) Healthcare:  With a full-time nurse and nurse's assistant 
on the construction site and a doctor and nurse operating a 
medical clinic at the labor accommodations, immediate concerns 
or emergencies can be addressed quickly.  Treatment for an 
injury sustained on the jobsite will be funded by Harbert. 
Workers are subject to Dubai workmen's compensation rules 
regarding onsite injuries.  Harbert informed the Consul General 
that all workers have 100 percent self-insurance as well as AED 
50,000 deductible health insurance policy.  Professional third 
country nationals have been offered additional elective coverage 
through AETNA, but due to costs, few, if any have opted to 
purchase it.  Additionally, medical matters are being managed 
through Harbert's contributions to the UAE Ministry of Labor and 
the American International Group-UAE (AIG-UAE).  With regard to 
payments to these two entities for medical injuries, Harbert 
provides medical benefits and contributions per UAE labor laws 
for each worker. 
 
 
 
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Labor Accommodations 
 
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¶9. (U) Background:  The former "Atlantis Man Camp" is located on 
Dubai's man-made, exclusive Palm Jumeirah Island, directly 
adjacent to the Atlantis Hotel and waterpark.  It is managed by 
Kerzner group.  According to camp General Manager Kamlesh Bajaj, 
the camp exceeds all UAE federal and Dubai standards and is 
often cited as a "model camp." 
 
 
 
¶10. (U) Built originally to support the 4000-strong workforce 
that built the Atlantis, Harbert currently has 60 workers living 
in the camp, with a planned maximum of 275 to 300 later this 
year.  The no-smoking camp is clean and orderly, with a series 
of barrack-type buildings, similar to basic training military 
barracks.  The Consul General visited the camp on June 10, 2009 
with OBO's Construction Manager and Harbert's Project Manager. 
The camp buildings--clean and air-conditioned-- include 
kitchens, multiple dining halls, movie rooms, recreation rooms, 
and a "news" viewing room.  The sleeping barracks are built on 
four blocks of 32 rooms; each room can sleep up to eight 
workers, but Harbert houses only six workers per room.  (Note: 
Photos of the Atlantis camp are used in local regulations for 
what a "model accommodation" should look like.  Food at the camp 
is clean and plentiful; workers eat in a cafeteria with no 
restrictions on portion or servings.) 
 
 
 
¶11. (SBU) Harbert has reviewed the accommodations of Hennessy 
Inc, its principal subcontractor at the NCC project site, and 
confirmed that Hennessy's labor policies match Harbert's 
regulations and policies.  Harbert has also provided 
documentation which indicates that Hennessy's accommodations in 
Dubai meet or exceed UAE laws and standards. 
GAVITO