Dubai: Dubai Police will place posters and signboards at construction sites and workers’ camps to educate them about their rights and who to contact in case of disputes.
“Workers in Dubai can contact police on 901 in case of protests or any workers’ problems. The posters will be placed at all construction sites in Dubai this year in three languages, Arabic, English and Urdu,” Colonel Abdul Rahman Al Shaer, director of Human Trafficking Monitoring Department in Dubai police said on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Dubai Police resolved three workers protests last week, including a protest in Al Barari area over late overtime payment.
Colonel Al Shaer said the police received a call about a fight at a worksite last week. The workers were demanding late overtime payment from the construction company.
“The complaint was about an attack on security guards at the site. The developer asked the security guard not to allow the workers of a construction company to enter the site. The workers allegedly assaulted two security guards and they told us that the owner didn’t pay them their late overtime,” Colonel Al Shaer said.
The owner had paid the salaries but failed to pay the overtime. The police are investigating the incident of attack on the security guards and resolved the late overtime payment issue.
“We spoke with the owner who promised to pay the late overtime and he signed a certificate to pay the late overtime. We are coordinating with labour ministry to solve any workers protest,” Colonel Al Shaer added.
The police made 1,400 inspection visits to 1,400 companies to check the workers’ camps and 16 companies were violating the standards.
After a notice to those companies, police followed up the situation of the camps and the companies succeeded in changing the camps to better situation.
The companies were located in Dubai Investment, Jebel Ali, Al Muhaisna and Al Quoz areas.
Earlier this month, Dubai authorities announced that worker protests over delayed salaries and accommodation have plummeted by more than two-third in the first quarter of this year as compared to the same period last year.
The sharp decline to six worker disputes in the first three months of this year as compared to 19 protests in the first quarter in 2016 was attributed to an intensive campaign to educate employees about their rights and responsibilities.
The Dubai Police is planning to contact Dubai Municipality to force companies to put up signboards at all construction sites in Dubai contain whom to contact in case of problems.
“When workers enter the site, they only see signs about the developer and the construction company. We want companies to place signboards informing the workers about whom to contact if they face problems,” Colonel Al Shaer said.
