Female workers take group showers to beat the clock

Dubai: Maria (not her real name) has to shower with three other women every morning to get to work on time since only two bathrooms are available for herself and her 14 colleagues in a two-bedroom company apartment.

Fifteen female employees of Ramez Trading, which runs supermarkets, share the Sharjah apartment, assigning eight and seven people per room respectively. Sleeping on bunk beds, the women have little personal space.

"We're lucky for having different shifts, some starting at 9am and others at 10am. Otherwise seven or eight of us would be showering at the same time," laughed Maria, a Filipina who makes Dh1,300 a month.

The women keep their clothes in boxes and hang them off their beds and specially placed rods between the beds, restricting movement.

"It's hard to sleep sometimes. With different shifts, there's always someone entering or leaving the room," said another worker.

Four water buckets are placed in the corner of one of the bathrooms, leaving little space to walk. According to Maria, there is not enough pressure in the showers forcing the women to wash out of the buckets.

"The toilet doesn't flush, so we have to pour buckets of water into the toilet after finishing our business".

Working six-and-a-half days a week, the women say they only get enough time to clean and cook, adding that they haven't had the opportunity to see the city they live in.

"My shift is from 10am to 2pm and 5pm to 12am. When I'm back at night, I just cook dinner and the next day's meals and go to bed".

Melanie, who has been living in the apartment for six years, however, said she "loved" her job and wouldn't want to lose it "because I have a family to support".

"If I had completed my degree I would be working in an office today. But I couldn't afford to continue".

While acknowledging that their living conditions were "difficult" most of the women said they were happy working and living there "because we wouldn't find jobs back home, or ones that pay as much". "Besides, we want to keep our jobs".

Better days ahead

The women told Gulf News they were also made to pay their own visa expenses but Moutaz Mohammad, a public relations officer at Ramez Trading, was not able to confirm this.

He said the condition of the apartment was "reasonable" but nevertheless the company is planning to build new accommodation for its employees within three months, "where four workers will be sharing a room"

"The system is a leftover of the old management but now since the owner has changed, things will get better," he said.