UAE LABOR UPDATES

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ABU DHABI 002774

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE PASS TO USTR FOR LKARESH, AROSENBERG, AND DBELL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB ECON PREL ETRD AE
SUBJECT: UAE LABOR UPDATES



1. (SBU) Summary: On June 30, Econoff met with Mohammed
Al-Zaabi, Director of International Relations, at the
Ministry of Labor (MOL) to discuss recent changes to the UAE
labor system. Al-Zaabi explained that foreign workers are
"temporary" workers, not "immigrant" workers and stressed to
Econoff that the USG must understand the UAEG's position that
labor is an issue of "national security." Al-Zaabi
highlighted the new regulations regarding Emiratization and a
minimum wage for UAE nationals. He also discussed the recent
Ministerial Decree mandating a mid-day break for laborers and
said that the MOL is hiring more labor inspectors to address
the growing labor problems in the UAE. Al-Zaabi said he
hopes a revised labor law will be passed soon, but gave no
further details. In addition, The Ministry of Interior
recently announced that domestic servants no longer have to
leave the UAE for six months before beginning a new contract.
The new decree follows the decision of the MOL which also
ended the six month ban on laborers. End Summary.

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Workers--Temporary, Not Immigrants
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2. (SBU) In his recent speech before the 95th International
Labor Organization (ILO),Minister of Labor, Dr. Ali Al
Ka'abi, called on the ILO to recognize expatriate workers in
Gulf countries as temporary workers, not immigrant workers
since foreigners are not permitted to immigrate to the UAE,
regardless of how many years an expatriate has been working
in the UAE. Once a foreign worker retires, he is not allowed
to remain in the UAE and must return to his home country.
Al-Zaabi told Econoff that the UAEG views expatriate workers
as temporary workers, not immigrants. He also said that the
International Organization of Migration had agreed to this
classification. Al-Zaabi stressed that foreign workers are a
matter of "national security" since Emiratis only make up a
small percentage of their own country (estimated at around
15%). Econoff told Al-Zaabi that the USG understands the
UAEG's view that expatriate workers are an issue of national
security, but stressed that workers are entitled to
fundamental rights and freedoms, such as the right to form
unions and collective bargaining. Econoff and Al-Zaabi also
discussed the current debate in Congress, regarding an FTA
with Oman due to Oman's weak labor laws. Econoff told
Al-Zaabi that Congress has provided clear guidance that our
FTA trading partners must respect core labor standards.
(Note. Oman allows expatriates to belong to
associations--similar to unions--as long as the person can
read, write and speak Arabic, while the UAE does not allow
foreign participation in its associations. End note.)

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Emiratization
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3. (U) Al-Zaabi told Econoff that The Ministry of Labor is
blacklisting firms and not renewing their employee's visas if
they do not meet their Emiratization quotas. Only 33
companies out of 911 that are required to meet Emiratization
quotas met their goals for 2006. Banks, insurance companies
and trading companies with more than 50 employees are
required to meet Emiratization quotas, by hiring a certain
percentage of UAE nationals. In addition, companies with at
least 100 employees are also required to have a UAE Public
Relations Officer.


4. (U) The UAEG is increasing its Emiratization push. The
MOL announced on June 24 that all newly hired secretaries and
human resources officers in the private sector must be UAE
nationals. One article in the Gulf News, quoted Ahmad
Kajoor, Assistant Undersecretary in the Ministry of Labor as
saying, all applications for secretarial posts will be
studied carefully, "but we (MOL) will not target jobs in
small businesses." Expatriates currently working in those
positions will be able to retain their positions for another
18 months or until their visas expire, whichever is first.
Al-Zaabi said that he believed foreign secretaries or human
resources officers will be given another job in their present
company once their contract expires. The Ministry estimates
that 671 human resource jobs and 20,865 secretarial jobs will
be made available to UAE nationals through the new
Emiratization Decree. The English language daily, Gulf News,
quoted the Al-Ka'abi as saying "The Labor Ministry's new
Emiratization plan is meant to strengthen the recruitment of
UAE nationals in certain jobs rather than in certain sectors
after we (MOL) found a lack of commitment to the
Emiratization quota imposed by the Cabinet in the banking and
insurance sectors and in trading companies."


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5. (U) The MOL estimates there is currently only one UAE
employee for every ten expatriate employees in the private
sector and the UAEG's aggressive Emiratization policy is one
way to try and reverse those numbers. The National Human
Resource Development and Employment Authority (Tanmia)
recently announced that at least 33,000 Emiratis are
currently unemployed and expects that number to increase by
13,000 each year. In addition, 15,000 new university
graduates enter the job market each year. The Emiratization
policy does not apply to government offices because federal
labor law does not apply to the government sector. Al-Zaabi
believes Emiratization in the government sector is only about
30-35%, although it is 99% in the MOL.


6. (U) The MOL has also issued a decree stipulating a minimum
wage for UAE nationals in the private sector. A UAE national
must receive a minimum of 5000 Dhs (1362 USD) a month if he
possesses a post-secondary degree, 4000 Dhs (1090 USD) a
month if he holds a secondary diploma and 3000 Dhs (817 USD)
a month for all others.

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Mid-day Break for Laborers
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7. (U) The MOL has issued a Ministerial Decree mandating that
outdoor workers have a mid-day break from 12:30-3:00 PM
during July and August. Inspectors from the MOL are checking
to ensure that companies are complying with the required
break time. If companies are caught violating the break,
they will be fined 10,000 Dhs (2725 USD) for the first
offense, 20,000 Dhs (5450 USD) for the second offense and
30,000 Dhs (8174 USD) for the third offense. The English
language daily, Gulf News, reported seeing laborers working
at construction sites between 12:30-3:00 PM, in violation of
the new rule. According to the newspaper, 15 companies have
violated the law since July 1. (Note. This is the second
year the UAE has mandated a mid-day break. However, this
year's break is half an hour shorter than last year's rest
period. Since most workers live in remote labor camps it is
not feasible for many laborers to return to their
accommodations during their break, so most end up resting at
their worksite or on the grass in nearby areas. End note.)

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MOL Increase Number of Inspectors
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8. (SBU) Al-Zaabi said that the MOL will use 95% of its 2007
budget of 120 million Dhs (3.27 million USD) to increase its
number of labor inspectors. The Ministry expects to hire 400
inspectors. (Comment. Although this is a vast improvement
over the past year's number of labor inspector (about 80),
400 is still too low to properly inspect over 250,000 firms
in the UAE. End Comment.)

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Revised Labor Laws
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9. (U) Throughout the past two months, the Arabic press has
reported that Labor Minister Al Ka'abi would be submitting a
revised labor law to the Cabinet this summer. Al Khaleej
newspaper quoted the Minister as saying, "there would be
substantial changes in the law, which will rebalance the
labor market and catch economic and social development." The
law would also remedy delays in payment of wages, absconding
workers and labor strikes. When Econoff asked Al-Zaabi about
the Minister's revised labor law, he responded, "inshallah
(God willing) it will be passed soon," but did not comment
further. (Note. Ambassador and Econoffs have repeatedly
asked MOL officials about the passage of the revised labor
law and are always told that the law will be passed soon.
Since the Cabinet adjourns for the summer on July 15, it is
unlikely that the law will be passed until after September 15
when the Cabinet resumes. End note.)

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Requirement to Leave for Six Months Abolished
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10. (U) Lt. General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister
of Interior, recently issued a Ministerial Decree abolishing
the requirement that domestic servants leave the UAE for six
months once their contract expires. Under the new decree,
once an individual's visa expires, they no longer have to
wait outside the UAE for six months before beginning a new
position. This is in line with a similar decree issued by
the Labor Minister several months ago abolishing the sixth

ABU DHABI 00002774 003 OF 003


month ban on laborers. (Note. The Ministry of Interior
regulates domestic servants, not the MOL, because domestic
workers are sponsored by individuals rather than companies.
End note.)
SISON