UAE LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE AMENDS LABOR LAW

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABU DHABI 000864

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARPI, DRL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/07/2016
TAGS: ELAB ETRD ECON AE
SUBJECT: UAE LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE AMENDS LABOR LAW


Classified By: Ambassador Michele J. Sison for reasons 1.4 (b & d).


1. (U) On March 6, the UAE press reported that the Cabinet
of Ministers Legislative Committee approved an amendment to
the UAE's labor law (Federal Law Number 8 of 1980),which
added an article authorizing the Minster of Labor to issue a
ministerial decree authorizing labor unions. The amendment
will be forwarded to the full cabinet for review.


2. (SBU) MinLabor U/S Dr. Khalid Al-Khazraji confirmed the
story to econchief. When asked how long it would take to
move the amendment through the legislative process to
President Khalifa's desk for signature, he replied that he
didn't know, but did not think it would be long, as the
legislative committee had signed off on it. He also stressed
that establishing labor unions pursuant to a ministerial
decree would dramatically speed up the process and allow the
ministry the ability to revise its labor union regulations
more quickly to respond to changing circumstances. Econchief
asked whether the ministry had draft regulations prepared,
and Khazraji confirmed that it did.


3. (C) Al-Khazraji asked whether USTR lead negotiators would
be meeting with UAE Vice President and Prime Minister Sheikh
Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum (MbR) and other political
leaders during the March 13-16 negotiations. When econchief
replied that we had requested meetings with MbR, Foreign
Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, and Finance
Minister Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, Al-Khazraji
asked that we not only raise labor with the political
leadership, but also stress what we were looking for on labor
unions, especially in regard to foreign participation. He
suggested that the points Congress raised during the Bahrain
FTA ratification process would be the relevant points to use.
Al-Khazraji said that the Ministry of Labor has made these
points with the UAE's leadership, but that it would help to
have USTR reinforce the message. (Note: Minister of Labor
Ali Al-Ka'abi will be out of the country during the
negotiations, so Al-Khazraji said he would take the
minister's meeting with Assistant U.S. Trade Representative
for Labor Lewis Karesh. End Note.)


4. (SBU) Comment: The legislative process in the UAE can be
a long one. The relevant ministry drafts a proposal for a
new (or amended) law, which is reviewed by the cabinet. It
then drafts the law and sends it to the Ministry of Justice
for review. After the Ministry of Justice concludes its
review (making any necessary technical revisions),the draft
law is reviewed by a Cabinet legislative affairs committee
before being approved by the cabinet. After the cabinet
approves the draft, it is sent either to the advisory Federal
National Council or directly to the rulers of the seven
emirates (the Federal Supreme Council) for approval. Once it
has been approved, it is signed by the President. The law
will go into effect once it is published in the Federal
Registry. Once the amended Labor Law is in effect, a
ministerial decree to create labor unions, in contrast, will
be much quicker to implement and to amend. End Comment.
SISON