The workers of Al Ahmadiyah Contracting Company alleged ill treatment, arbitrary salary deductions and non-payment of overtime by the management.
Following on the footsteps of the Burj Dubai workers, the infuriated workers turned violent damaging 8 cars and two buses besides smashing office property at the project site, and destroying official documents. They also threw stones on the offices and beat a site engineer.
The protest began at 6.30pm and was still continuing when the paper went to print.
Riot control wing of Dubai Police rushed to the scene to control the rioting workers. The police dispersed the workers beating some of them with batons, and taking a few of them into custody.
The roads in the area which houses a number of hotels were blocked for hours due to the protest.
Officials of Permanent Committee of Labour Affairs in Dubai and Dubai Police Department of Protective Security and Emergency were also present at the site. They held discussions with the representatives of workers on the spot.
According to workers interviewed by Khaleej Times, the company management used to cut their salary for unnecessary reasons. They also claimed that the food provided by the company was unhygienic.
“We are getting salaries between Dh600 to Dh900 a month. But the management used to cut Dh50 and Dh100 each time if the punching is delayed even for two minutes. We work hard all the months,” said a worker.
Another worker alleged that the supervisor of the company used to beat them. “They treat us like animals. We do not get time even to eat properly. At times, a supervisor kicks away the food while we are eating. He tells us time is over and we are late. The food we are getting lacks hygiene and taste,” he said, disclosing that the same supervisor “told us that he will cut two days' salary if we do not punch the cards on the time he fixes."
He also claimed that the company is not paying them overtime. “Even if we work overtime, they do not pay us properly. We struggled a lot. We do not have any other option but to protest,” he said.
However, Lieutenant-Colonel Rashid Bakheet, Member of the Permanent Committee of Labour Affairs in Dubai, termed the protest as irrelevant and instigated by some 'labour mafia'. Speaking to Khaleej Times at the protest site, Lt-Col Bakheet said: “We checked everything. The company is paying the salary on time and the allegation of the workers is baseless. Some people are working behind the scenes to provoke the protest."
“They should not behave this way. If they have complaints, they should inform us and we will find a solution. Instead of that they are staging violent protests,” he added.
Brigadier Mohammed Eid M Al Mansoori, Director-General, Department of Protective Security and Emergency, Dubai Police, who was on the spot to control the mob told Khaleej Times that this kind of behaviour of workers is unacceptable.
“Most of them do not know what they are protesting for. Some of them are complaining about the food while others want to increase their salaries,” he said, adding that if workers have any problem with the management, they should inform the authorities instead of resorting to violent protests.
