DUBAI: Rising protests by Dubai's construction workers have highlighted faults in the UAE's labour laws and revealed abuses in other sectors of its booming economy, forcing a rethink by officials.

And a campaign by international activists aims to pressure the government of the UAE to grant more rights to the country's mostly Asian blue-collar workforce.

Gleaming skyscrapers with evocative names like "21st Century" and "Capricon" dot Shaikh Zayed Road, a main thoroughfare in Dubai.

Dozens of cranes jut out on the horizon like mechanic beasts heralding the rise of more grandiose towers, including Burj Dubai slated to be the world's tallest skyscraper.

Inside the marble-tiled lobby of a residential tower, a doorman leafs through one of the city's English-language tabloids with its daily staple of riots and protests by disgruntled construction workers and warnings by officials to prosecute and deport troublemakers.

The 44-year-old native of southern India begins to talk about his own hardship and that of his co-workers employed by a firm managing several buildings owned by Emiratis.

He has been working for the company for 16 years and is paid Dh1,500 a month.

But he receives no medical or retirement benefits, is often cheated on his overtime and must pay out of his own pocket the Dh3,400 fee to have his work permit renewed every three years.

In one of the city's most opulent hotels, a 26-year-old Tunisian worker says he has little leverage to press for his rights.

"I worked non-stop everyday from October to February and then they cheated me on my overtime. When I complained, the manager told me, 'Take it or leave it'," said the worker who did not want to be named.

Authorities insist that the only channel for labour grievances is a government committee set up a year ago. The committee's co-ordinator Salah Al Falsi said that it intervened eight times last year to resolve complaints in favour of 19,249 workers.

Officials have blamed what they described as "malicious hidden hands" that are riling workers to destabilise the UAE's prosperous economy.

Since the March riot, in which equipment and cars were smashed, there was another violent protest reported in late April at the sprawling Dubai Marina project.

Strikes and walkouts by workers demanding back pay or better living conditions have become a daily occurrence.