More than 30,000 labourers return to work after protest

Dubai: More than 30,000 workers went back to work yesterday, ending a 10-day protest to demand a salary increase, announced a senior official at Dubai Police.

The workers of Arabtec Construction Company had stopped working and protested in their labour accommodation on November 1 demanding a salary increase of more than Dh 500.

Brigadier Abdul Jalil Mahdi, Director of Preventative Security Department at Dubai Police, told Gulf News that the majority of the workers have returned back to work, while about 200 workers will be deported.

"A group of workers went violent as they tried to prevent the rest of labourers from going back to work but we intervened immediately and no injuries or losses were reported," said Mahdi.

The company decided to cancel the work permits of those 200 workers who were categorised as instigators, he added.

Meanwhile, Riyad Kamal, Chief Executive Officer at Arabtec, said in a statement that a settlement has been reached with the protesting workers following discussions with officials from the Labour Ministry, the UAE Contractors Association, the Dubai Police and the Permanent Committee for Labour Affairs in Dubai. "The labourers' strike has come to an end and all workers are back to work as a result of agreement reached with the management," he said.

The statement described the settlement as satisfactory but did not disclose any details.