Abused Labor a Concern for NYU, Guggenheim Sites in UAE

Workers Say They Work Long Hours, Sometimes With No Pay

Workers told HRW in 2006 that they were forced to work 11 hours a day for as little as $5, money which was sometimes not paid for months. They would not disclose their full names out of fear of employer punishment or deportation by the government.

"Behind the glitter and luxury," HRW said of the UAE in its report, "the experiences of these migrant workers present a much less attractive picture – of wage exploitation, indebtedness to unscrupulous recruiters, and working conditions that are hazardous to the point of being deadly. UAE federal labor law offers a number of protections, but for migrant construction workers these are largely unenforced."

Just days after the Brian Ross investigative team began asking questions, the government there announced reforms to improve workplace conditions. And recently, the nation submitted progress reports to the UN, detailing its "great progress legislating and enforcing the rights of its labour force."

"The UAE is designing laws and policies to ensure that its workers feel welcome and safe and to familiarize them with their rights and how those rights can be protected," the report states.

But Joe Stork, deputy director of HRW's Middle East and North Africa division who visited the UAE this summer, said he has not seen progress.

"The government has still not instituted a minimum wage and, in fact, has indicated they have no plans to do so," Stork offered as an example. "Last year they put out a draft revised labor law soliciting comments. We commented on it and, since then, not a word."

He said the UAE government has indicated that it will increase inspection of labor sites, but those plans are still in the works.

"Inspectors aren't out there on the streets and in the labor camps," Stork said. He added that beyond a new mandate for an afternoon break for workers during the hot summer months, he can't think of "a single recommendation that we made that's actually been met."

HRW is working on a new report about the abuse of workers in Abu Dhabi, which is expected to be released in early 2009.

ABCNews.com was unable to reach the UAE government for comment.

Safwan Masri, a vice dean at the Columbia Business School who visits Dubai every couple months, said the growth that the UAE has experienced in recent years has created new challenges with regards to the working conditions, pay scales, and rights and privileges of migrant workers. Masri said, however, that the government is addressing those issues and trying to find solutions, even though they are not easily solved.