HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH CRITICIZES THE UAE'S DRAFT LABOR LAW

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DUBAI 000211 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE PLEASE PASS TO USTR BELL AND ROSENBERG E.O. 12958: DECL: 3/26/2017 TAGS: ELAB PHUM ECON SOCI AE SUBJECT: HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH CRITICIZES THE UAE'S DRAFT LABOR LAW CLASSIFIED BY: Paul R Sutphin, Consul General, Dubai, UAE. REASON: 1.4 (b),(d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY. Human Rights Watch (HRW) representatives criticized the United Arab Emirates' draft labor law in a press conference held in Dubai on March 25. HRW's primary complaints were that the draft labor law does not permit laborers to organize and strike, and the draft law does not cover domestic workers. HRW also criticized the UAEG for not enforcing the existing law, citing the lack of serious punishment for employers who violate it. HRW also praised the UAEG, however, for putting the draft on-line and welcoming comments. The UAEG attempted to preempt HRW's critique with a press release describing the government's ongoing campaign to improve working conditions in the country. A UAEG source provided the Embassy with a copy of the original press statement which included portions referring to allowing workers to organize and engage in collective bargaining - which had been redacted prior to release. The following day, UAE Minister of Labor Dr. Ali Al Ka'abi, released a statement through the official Emirates News Agency (WAM) in response to the HRW report noting that the Ministry of Labor is committed to transparency and will consider the views of HRW. "We appreciate the comments made by HRW on the draft labor law in the UAE and we will take them into consideration and study all proposals thoroughly," said Al Ka'abi. End Summary. -------------- -------------- COMMENTS ON THE DRAFT LAW?: YOU ASKED FOR THEM~ -------------- -------------- ¶2. (U) Sarah Leah Whitson, Executive Director of HRW for the Middle East and North Africa, and Lance Lattig, HRW's Media Editor, held a press conference in Dubai's Media City on March 25 to announce the publication on HRW's website of their 16 page tract "The UAE's Draft Labor Law, Human Rights Watch's Comments and Recommendations." During the conference Whitson highlighted the areas of the UAE's draft labor law that did not meet internationally accepted norms for the treatment of laborers. The primary areas of the draft law that HRW found unacceptable were that there is no provision in the law that allows workers - almost all of whom in the UAE are expatriates -- to organize, engage in collective bargaining, or strike. In addition, HRW criticized the draft law for excluding domestic workers. She stated that the US-UAE FTA is "dead" and this was solely the result of problems regarding workers' rights in the UAE. ¶3. (U) Whitson also criticized the UAEG for not prosecuting employers who violate workers' rights. She said that even if the law was strictly enforced and employers were prosecuted, the maximum penalties that could be imposed are insufficient. As an example, she said that an employer who withholds salaries of thousands of workers for a year could be slapped with a AED 12,000 (USD 3260) fine. For large companies, such a fine is meaningless. ¶4. (U) When asked by reporters why the UAE was being criticized, Whitson replied that HRW holds all countries, whether it be the US, France, or Saudi Arabia up to the same standard. She said that it was good that the UAE had posted the draft labor law on the Internet for comment, and that HRW was responding with recommendations for the UAEG. She added that HRW recognized that the draft law was an important step toward reform and transparency, but HRW wanted the law improved to both meet internationally accepted standards and make the UAE an example for other regional states to emulate. -------------- -------------- UAE'S ATTEMPTED PRE-EMPTIVE STRIKE HAS LITTLE IMPACT -------------- -------------- ¶5. (C) In an attempt to blunt the impact of the HRW announcement, the UAEG released a press statement just prior to the HRW press conference which claimed progress in the government's campaign to improve working conditions. Additionally, the Minister of Labor, Dr. Ali Abdullah Al Kaabi told the Gulf News, a local English language paper, "it is the government's intention to devise a framework that will permit it to meet the relevant international standards relating to the rights or workers." The Ministry of Labor also promised that a mandatory minimum wage would be enacted, and that the first group covered would be construction workers. (Note: HRW estimates there are 700,000 low-wage construction laborers in the UAE, a number that seems, if anything, low to us. end note) ¶6. (C) A source within the UAEG provided the Ambassador with a draft version of the UAE press release in advance, which showed that references to permitting organized labor and collective bargaining originally included in it had subsequently been redacted. Al Kaabi was originally quoted saying: "the Ministry is also preparing proposals for the introduction of a minimum wage structure, at first in the construction industry, and then DUBAI 00000211 002 OF 002 to be expanded to other sectors, and is examining ways in which collective bargaining and the establishment of worker's organizations can be introduced." Reference to "collective bargaining" and "establishment of worker's organizations" were not in the final press release. A paragraph that discussed the possibility of permitting collective bargaining and workers organizing was completely omitted from the official press release. Finally, a sentence in the draft that indicated that the Ministry of Labor officials were sympathetic when workers who were not being paid actually stopped work was edited to show that all work stoppages were in breach of the labor law. ¶7. (C) Lance Lattig commented to Poleconoff privately that he was pleased that the UAEG allowed HRW to come into the country and hold a press conference without interference. Lattig added that the Chinese government would not permit HRW to hold a press conference, let alone one without interference. He added that recently in Nigeria HRW was required to bring in a large number of security guards for protection. ¶8. (U) The press conference was well attended by the local Arabic and English newspaper reporters as well as international Arabic and English press, and received largely straightforward coverage in the local English and Arabic press. ¶9. (U) On March 26, UAE Minister of Labor Dr. Ali Al Ka'abi released a statement through the official Emirates News Agency (WAM) in response to the HRW report noting that the MOL is committed to transparency and will consider the views of HRW. The fact that the MOL solicited public opinion on the proposed labor law, including the views of HRW, is meant to enhance transparency, said Al Ka'abi. He continued by saying, "We appreciate the comments made by HRW on the draft labor law in the UAE and we will take them into consideration and study all proposals thoroughly." He concluded by stating "The ministry will not back away from its transparent approach . . ., whether we agree with them [public comments] or not." ¶10. (C) Comment: Although the draft labor law does not address collective bargaining and rights of association--as MOL officials have repeatedly indicated to Emboffs would be included--the fact that the proposed law was published for comment is an encouraging sign of increasing transparency in government. It is still unknown whether the UAEG actually intends to incorporate these comments. End comment. SUTPHIN