Labour dispute: Carpenters go illegal

Four Indian carpenters who say they were forced to leave their accommodation after threatening court action over unpaid wages have taken up illegal work on a daily wage of Dh80 in Sharjah.

"We have not been paid for nine months and when we threatened to take the company to court, they said our labour cards were in the process of cancellation," disclosed Yadvendra Pratap, Gyan Prakash, Kalu Ram and Suresh Kumar.

They arrived in Dubai on August 10, 2006 on employment visas. After getting Dh600 per month each till April 2007, payments stopped.

But, according to Motilal Yadav, the accountant of Waterwaves Flooring, six months' pending salaries (Dh3,900 each) have been paid to them. "No more money is due. Their labour cards have been cancelled. I will be providing them air tickets."

The workers said, “We were told by the agent a few days ago not to bother him any more and advised us to take up work illegally. We have now taken up illegal work on a daily wage of Dh80 each in Sharjah.''

Pratap said they had paid over 100,000 Indian rupees (about Dh9,300) each to their agents to come to the emirate and could not return home unless they earned enough to repay the loans they had take back home.

He said when they went to the Labour Office in Deira in January this year, their complaint letter typed in Arabic over non-payment of wages was not accepted on the ground that their labour cards had been cancelled.

The workers have sought the help of the Indian Consulate to rescue them from their plight.