MO, Proletariato internazionale Nyt 06-03-26
A Dubai, gli immigrati asiatici protestanno per i
diritti sul luogo di lavoro
HASSAN M. FATTAH
Gli immigrati asiatici a Dubai stanno iniziando ad
organizzarsi per difendersi dal supersfruttamento.
Dalla marcia di protesta di 800 lavoratori dello scorso
settembre per le strade di Dubai, ci sono stati 8 grandi scioperi, con
crescente organizzazione e coordinamento.
La maggiore azione di protesta, contro i bassi salari,
spesso non pagati per mesi e contro i maltrattamenti, da parte degli immigrati
negli EAU è partita da qualche centinaio di operai edili, che stanno costruendo
il maggior grattacielo del mondo e si allargata ad altre migliaia che stanno costruendo
un terminal di aeroporto.
Su 1,5 milioni di abitanti di Dubai, 1 milione è costituito
da operai immigrati, per la maggior parte nell’edilizia; provengono per lo più
dall’India e dalle Filippine.
200 000 le imprese che occupano immigrati.
Devono spesso pagare migliaia di $ a reclutatori di forza
lavoro per avere un lavoro negli emirati.
Lavorano 12 ore+ 1-2 ore per recarsi al cantiere nel deserto;
sono pagati $150-200 al mese, la metà la inviano a casa.
Quando firmano il contratto è loro tolto il passaporto e il
permesso di residenza, pochi possono andarsene da Dubai senza il permesso del
datore di lavoro che può impedire loro di trovare un impiego nel paese se vengono
licenziati o se ne vanno; non hanno diritto di organizzarsi in sindacato, possono
rivolgersi solo ai funzionari del ministero del lavoro.
Nel 2005 ci sono stati 84 suicidi, 70 nel 2004, non riescono
a risparmiare e vogliono tornare a casa a mani vuote.
Con la prima protesta hanno cacciato le guardie di
sicurezza, distrutto computer, auto, macchinari; tornati al lavoro hanno chiesto
aumenti salariali e migliori condizioni di lavoro.
Nyt 06-03-26
In Dubai, an Outcry From Asians for Workplace Rights
By HASSAN M. FATTAH
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, March 25 — For Rajee Kumaran, this was the city of dreams.
Dubai’s gleaming high rises, idyllic beaches and seemingly limitless
opportunities glittered on the pages of brochures and in the stories told by laborers returning home to his native Kerala, India.
But after five years here, surviving in
squalid conditions and barely making ends meet on less than $200 a month,
Mr. Kumaran, 28, says his dream has long since faded.
"I thought this was the land of
opportunity, but I was fooled," he said Thursday, as he stood with several
other construction workers outside their work camp in the desert on the
outskirts of the city.
When
hundreds of workers angered by low salaries and mistreatment rioted Tuesday
night at the site of what is to become the world’s tallest skyscraper, not only were they
expressing the growing frustration of Asian migrants here, they offered a
glimpse of an increasingly organized labor force.
Far from the high-rise towers and luxury
hotels emblematic of Dubai,
the workers turning this swath of desert into a modern metropolis live in a
Dickensian world of cramped labor camps, low pay and increasing desperation.
For years, workers like Mr. Kumaran have
done whatever they could to get here, often paying thousands of dollars to
unscrupulous recruiters for the chance to work at one of the hundreds of
construction sites in the emirates.
Of the
1.5 million residents of Dubai, as many as a million are immigrants who
have come here to work in some capacity, with the largest subgroup being construction workers, said Hadi Ghaemi,
a researcher with Human Rights Watch who covers the United Arab Emirates,
citing government statistics. A vast
majority of the immigrants come from the Indian subcontinent and the Philippines.
With the cost of living rising, many
have abandoned dreams of returning with a fortune.
– The construction workers’ camps, in particular, have been set up
ever deeper in the desert. That adds an
hour or two just to get to the job site every morning, in addition to the
workers’ 12-hour shifts.
A growing number have resorted to
suicide rather than return home with empty pockets: last year, 84 South Asians committed suicide in Dubai, according to the Indian Consulate
here, up from 70 in 2004.
Mr. Kumaran, who earns 550 dirhams every
month, or about $150, as a laborer,
sends home almost half his earnings and lives on the equivalent of roughly $60
a month. That is barely enough to pay for food and cigarettes and using his
cellphone from time to time. But he is not sure how he will repay the loan he
took to get here.
"If I’d stayed in India and worked just as hard as I
do now, I could have made the same money," he said. "And I wouldn’t
have needed to get a loan to come here."
Since
last September, when 800 workers staged a protest march down a main highway in
the heart of the city and set off a national debate about the treatment of
foreign workers, laborers have held at least eight
major strikes to demand their rights and get their pay, which is sometimes
withheld.
But
the mass action on Tuesday was the most significant of its kind. Hundreds of
workers building the Burj Dubai skyscraper chased security guards and broke
into offices, smashing computers, scattering files and wrecking cars and
construction machines.
When they returned to work the next day,
demanding better pay and improved working conditions, thousands of laborers building an airport terminal across town also
laid down their tools, demanding better conditions, too. The workers also
halted work on Thursday, until a settlement was negotiated.
"It was a watershed moment in
coordination and organization," Mr. Ghaemi said. "It started with increasing numbers of strikes, and has now
evolved into very organized and coordinated activities. If these grievances
are not addressed quickly by the government they are sure to begin hurting the
economic growth of the country."
Those workers have few rights. Visa sponsors and employers typically confiscate
their passports and residency permits when they sign on, restricting their
freedom of movement and their ability to report abuse.
Most
pay money to recruiters to find work here, a
practice that the U.A.E. government has sought to stop. When they get here, few can leave the country without the
permission of their employers, who can block them from working elsewhere in the
country if they resign or are fired.
Unionizing is forbidden, too, and most workers have no recourse other than the
Labor Ministry.
Denial of wages is the most common abuse
of workers, as contracting companies
typically wait to pay their workers until they themselves get paid. In the
worst cases, workers have been denied
wages for more than 10 months, only to lose the entire salary when the
contracting companies go bankrupt, leaving the men destitute and with few
options.
The
U.A.E.’s Ministry of Labor has tried to tackle the problem in recent months, making changes meant to allow workers to change
employers more easily and imposing strict penalties on employers that do not
pay their workers.
Workers
can call a toll-free hot line to the ministry to
lodge complaints, which are investigated. And ministry inspectors do
travel to work camps to inspect them.
"We always support the workers and
want to protect their rights, but we must protect employers’ rights as
well," said Ali al-Kaabi, the labor minister in the U.A.E. "As long
as these three factors are in place, the workers have no reason to protest. If
they have any problems or complaints they should speak with a supervisor,
who should come to the ministry. Then if we don’t act they have the right to
protest."
But the sheer number of workers who have
poured into the country over the past two years and inadequate staffing at the
ministry have meant that many problems slip through, some officials and human
rights workers say.
Only 80 government inspectors oversee
about 200,000 companies and other establishments that employ migrant workers, Mr. Ghaemi said, citing government figures. The inspectors also
look at labor camps: of the 36 camps inspected from May through December last
year, the ministry ranked 27 well below government standards.
"There’s such a boom and so many
laborers required here that the government is bringing measures which are not
entirely adequate," said B. S. Mubarak, labor and welfare consul at the
Consulate General of India in Dubai.
"Neither we nor the ministry can cope with the growing number of laborers
and growing number of complaints."
As he boards a bus to his construction
site every morning but Friday, Mr. Kumaran says he looks up at Dubai’s skyline of
gleaming high rises with a degree of sadness.
"I wish the rich people would
realize who is building these towers," Mr. Kumaran said, flanked by his
co-workers. "I wish they could come and see how sad this life is."
Mohammed Fadel Fahmy contributed reporting
for this article.
The New York