Small Moves

CQ, CQ. This is W9GFO. Is anybody out there?
CQ, CQ. I'm not getting anything, Dad.
Small moves, Ellie. Small moves.Contact (the movie), 1997

Introduction

The situation for laborers in the UAE has been for the past few years a rather fluid one. In general, conditions are getting better. Some are receiving higher wages, accommodations have been renovated and new ones constructed, working hours especially during the hottest months of summer have been reduced, and more laborers are getting paid in a timely fashion.

This all may seem encouraging, but one must keep in mind that the base upon which such improvements have emerged was one of extreme and untenable hardship. Minimum if not average wages for the unskilled laborer have risen from as little as 60 cents per hour on the US dollar to a still meagre 80 cents. While new facilities have been built for many there are still commonly up to 20 men per room, sharing limited bathing, toilet and cooking facilities and lacking any amount of privacy or even storage space for their few belongings.

In addition, some problems have been aggravated by the sheer number of laborers who are now entering the market. An unprecedented construction boom has led to an increase in the labor population by hundreds of thousands over the past few years--in a country whose official population is only about 4.1 million.

In short, there have been improvements in conditions for laborers, while there is still a long way to go for conditions overall to meet minimum standards of acceptability. What is also needed is more effort to see that good intentions, mostly in the form of government directives, actually materialize into real improvements.

The government, for example, announces that worker accommodations must include a minimum amount of space per person. The announcement is covered in the local media, both in English and in Arabic. Most laborers, however, never hear about it and their companies ignore it. Months go by and the directive is forgotten. Although there were clearly good intentions on the part of government, the practical effect of the initiative is almost nil.

Organized labor associations, which could help to promote and safeguard such directives, are for all intents and purposes prohibited by law. Non-governmental organizations which might help are also discouraged. Furthermore, the labor community is fragmented among the various nationalities and language groups represented.

Intent

Following upon the state of affairs described above, the intent of this blog is to contribute to an awareness of both the problems that laborers face and the initiatives being made to improve their conditions. This will be attempted in the following manner:

• Relevant news articles and internet postings will be reposted, summarized and/or linked to, sometimes accompanied by commentary.
  
• Other commentary will be presented on a topical basis.
  
• Narrative and descriptive accounts will be presented on the life and conditions of laborers.
  
• Interviews with laborers, when possible, will be posted.
  
• Photos will be used to illustrate commentary, provide a graphical record of conditions or simply to introduce some of the workers.

This,initially, will be the focus of this blog, which may be expanded as the issues are explored or if others become involved.

Why?

It is hard to live in the UAE and not feel some compassion for the many people seen laboring in the hot sun constructing roads and buildings and carrying out all manner of civil works. Added to this is the knowledge that wages are meagre and, even at that, sometimes unpaid for months. Furthermore, one can see the burgeoning of a mature and developed property market, where end-users pay millions of dirham for modest homes and apartments, while wages being paid the laborers who build them remain largely unchanged. A certain amount sympathy arises for the workers and even anger toward a system that allows such problems to persist.

Granted, all in the UAE are in some way part of the system and thereby bear some culpability. With this in mind many will feel moved and some even moved to action. The starting point, however, of any initiative is knowledge and awareness, to which this blog is aimed at providing.

Why not?

The UAE is not exactly a country where freedom of expression is limitless. There does, however, seem to be a growing amount of liberalism. Constructive criticism, it would seem, is not unwelcome. That being said, the laborers themselves are often reluctant to complain--especially when whatever is said might be traced back to them. They fear not so much the government, as their own employers. They are usually even reluctant to speak anonymously.

Under such circumstances, voices on this issue have remained muted. Whether it is the laborer, himself, or those like myself who feel some desire to examine the issues more closely, there have always been a great amount of reluctance to voice one's concerns.

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