DUBAI Ten Asian workers were reduced to sleeping rough, begging for food and facing an uncertain future after their employer did a runner.
The workers are part of the original 15 who won a court battle in May against their employer, Roydin Roach, owner of cabling sub-contractor Ortronics, who has reportedly absconded to India. The remaining 10 workers — seven Indians and three Bangladeshis — are now left penniless and homeless.
The workers took Roach to court on March 26, the seventh month they worked without getting paid their salary of between Dh2,000 and Dh3,000. On May 8, the court ruled that the company must pay each worker between Dh18,000 and Dh25,500, depending on rank and length of work.
Despite their legal victory, the men had been reduced to begging, living off the generosity of neighbours who occasionally give them food, after their employer ran away. There are even days when they go without a meal.
On June 15, the workers were thrown out of their room in a camp in Al Quoz after the utilities were cut off. They slept in the camp’s corridors for two days.
The sponsor moved them to a one-bedroom flat in Satwa from where they were also thrown out on August 12, due to the company’s failure to pay the rent.
People working at Ortronics kept telling us the rent would be paid, but it never happened,” said Anil Kumar, who is leading the workers’ fight for unpaid dues.
XPRESS met the men on Monday morning next to the Satwa bus station where they had spent a humid, sleepless summer night. Sitting with a recent court verdict on hand, the men said they felt helpless. “We don’t know what is coming next for us. We ask for nothing more than our rights,” said Anil.
The men said they use the public toilet to freshen up.
Another worker, Srinivas Rao, said: “Since we joined the company, we had not been paid on time. But we did not object as the owner was also an Indian and we thought he would take care of us. He always promised us to pay the week or month after.”
An Ortronics executive told XPRESS they would do something “within hours”. At 4pm on Monday, the workers returned to their flat.
The workers, however, fear getting a raw deal. “Our sponsor told us we can take our passport and leave,” said Anil. “But there was no mention about our claims. All these months, we had been living off loans from friends and relatives. We need to repay them too,” said Anil.
An executive at Ortronics told XPRESS: “The company has been pushed into financial crisis as payments from clients remain pending. All resources have gone into paying for staff accommodation, salaries and other liabilities. The company promoters have even liquidated their personal properties outside the UAE to take care of workers’ expenses. With great difficulty the money is being raised to pay the rent for the workers’ accommodation. We would like to assure our workers that every effort possible is being made to resolve their issues, in spite of us being totally helpless. We are sure that within two weeks this matter should be resolved.”
He said there were no plans to shut the company. “If we were shutting down, why would we put our whole-hearted effort to revive and resolve these issues?”
He said currently there are 22 staff in the company.
Quote:
“We don’t know what is coming next for us. We ask for nothing more than our rights”
anil kumar, worker
