In spite of draconian labour laws workers in United Arab Emirates are on strike

According to its own declared statements, the Consolidated Construction International Company (CCIC) "has become the largest engineering and construction company in the Middle East" with over 69,000 workers from over sixty countries. But now something has happened in the United Arab Emirates to disturb the glossy image the company likes to portray of itself. Their workers in the UAE have come out on strike for their demands.

The workers of the UAE suffer from very bad working condition but because of the laws governing trade unions and the right to strike movements or strikes have been rare, although in the recent period the phenomenon has been growing. The country is undergoing a massive construction boom, but most of the 700,000 construction workers in the country are from countries such as India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. In fact migrant workers, who make up 95 percent of the country's workforce, are particularly at risk of abuse. These workers have been forced to emigrate from their countries to earn a living.

Nearly 15,000 workers have now stopped work on two sites, Abshan and Rewait in Abu Dhabi. The police and the army have taken control of these two sites. Helicopters are hovering over the sites to check the activities of the workers. No newspaper or channel is reporting anything about this strike.

The labour laws in the UAE are brutal and draconian: any worker who is involved in activities like this can be sacked. A new proposed labour law contains no right to organize or to bargain collectively and it explicitly punishes striking workers.

The demands of the CCIC workers in Abu Dhabi are:

1. an increase in wages;

2. the right to strike;

3. medical allowances;

4. vacation after one year and the TA/DA;

5. improvement in the residential and food facilities;

6. Desert allowances and Gas allowances must be paid to the workers;

7. the weekly one day holiday on Friday must be counted as a working day as per international labour laws.

Solidarity messages and protest letters to the UAE authorities concerning these workers are needed as it is sure that the government and the administration of the company will kill this strike and no one will report on it. Here we provide a Model Letter and some addresses, fax numbers and email addresses that you can use.

Model Letter

To Consolidated Construction International Company (CCIC)

We have been informed of a strike in two sites of the Consolidated Construction International Company (CCIC)in the United Arab Emirates, Abshan and Rewait in Abu Dhabi involving 15,000 of your employees. We are extremely concerned about the fate of these workers. They are merely struggling for basic trade union rights which are not recognized in the UAE. We ask you to meet the workers' demands and to refrain from any acts of victimization such as sacking the workers concerned. We are taking this question up in our country and explaining what is happening as widely as possible in our trade union movement.

Yours,

.....................

Ministry of Labour, UAE,

Fax no: (9712)-6651317, (9712)-6673290

Phone no: (9712)- 6671700.

You can also send a message via the following link:

http://www.mol.gov.ae/index.php?option=com_contact&Itemid=34

How to contact the company in several countries:

Greece:

Owner of CCIC: Saeed Khoury,

Consolidated Contractors International Company S.A.L.

Telephone:(30 210) 6182000 / 6199200-19

FAX: (30 210) 6199224 (4 Lines)

Postal Address: P.O. Box 61092 Amaroussion 15110, ATHENS

Website: http://www.ccc.gr/

Italy:

Sicon Oil & Gas S.R.L.

Telephone:(39 02) 667551

FAX: (39 02) 6706470

Postal Address: Via Della Giustizia 10, 20125 Milan, ITALY

Email: sicon@siconoil.it

United Kingdom:

Consolidated Contractors International (UK) Ltd.

Telephone:(44 207) 2595900

FAX: (44 207) 2595544

Postal Address: 11A West Halkin Street, Belgravia, London, SW1X 8JL, UNITED KINGDOM

ACWa Services Ltd.

Telephone:(44 1756) 794794

FAX: (44 1756) 790898

Postal Address: ACWa House, Keighley Road, Skipton, North Yorkshire BD23 2UE

email: acwa@acwa.co.uk

USA:

The Morganti Group Inc.Telephone:(1 203) 7432675

FAX: (1 203) 8304477

Postal Address: 100 Mill Plain Road, Suite 400, Danbury, CT 06811

email: jtatham@morganti.com