UAE | Employment
Workers protest but fail to get their message across
Lack of communication created a problem at the Ministry of Labour on Sunday as some workers spent a whole day trying to get their complaints understood by ministry officials.
- By Wafa Issa, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:00 July 3, 2006
Dubai: Lack of communication created a problem at the Ministry of Labour on Sunday as some workers spent a whole day trying to get their complaints understood by ministry officials.
About 30 Chinese workers protested outside the ministry office in Dubai attracting the attention of both visitors and ministry employees, but could not explain their case as they could not speak any other language, but Chinese.
The Chinese workers were trying to explain their problems to both police and ministry officials but without success.
A police source at the premises told Gulf News that the workers had been outside the ministry since 6.30am.
"The workers who seemed confused were moving from one place to another trying to explain their case. Unable to get their point across, they gave up and sat outside the ministry," he said.
One of the workers was trying to identify his company to ministry officials and police by pointing at his jacket which had the name of a leading construction company, but could not voice the workers' problems.
A ministry official at the labour relations department admitted that the ministry does not have its own translators to aid them in such cases. "But usually workers who do not speak English or Arabic come with a translator from their consulate," he said.
A translator, whose number was provided by one of the workers with health problems, told Gulf News that the workers were protesting against unpaid overtime.
Another translator, who was called up by a ministry official, said the workers wanted to file a complaint against their company which is violating safety rules and putting them in danger.
The workers went back without filing their complaints, but they were told by a ministry official in sign language that they should come back today with a translator to explain their problems.
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