US embassy cable - 04ABUDHABI3384

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 003384 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EB A/S WAYNE AND DAS DONNELLY 
STATE FOR NEA, NEA/ARP, NEA/PI 
STATE PASS USTR FOR CATHY NOVELLI 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/27/2014 
TAGS: ELAB, ECON, ETRD, TC 
SUBJECT: TIFA UPDATE:  UAE WORKING ON UNIONS 
 
REF: A. A) ABU DHABI 3324 
 
     B. B) ABU DHABI 3270 
     C. C) ABU DHABI 3079 
 
Classified by Ambassador Michele Sison for reasons 1.5 (b & 
d). 
 
1. (C) Summary:  The UAE Minister of Labor and other UAE 
labor officials have told us in two separate meetings over 
the last three days that the UAE is committed to moving 
forward on developing labor unions, but that the process will 
be a slow deliberative one, with considerable debate among 
UAE stakeholders (including the chambers of commerce and the 
Emirati teachers, engineers, and lawyers associations).  Our 
interlocutors stressed that labor unions and the foreign 
worker population are serious issues for the UAE, issues 
which are receiving serious attention.  The UAEG is also 
concerned about balancing their commitment to improving 
workers' rights with the security and social challenges of 
having a 98 percent foreign worker population in the private 
sector.  The Minister of Labor emphasized that he was not 
interested in having Emirati-only labor unions and that a key 
question for the UAEG was the level and type of foreign 
participation.  For example, should foreign participation be 
capped at 20 percent of union membership or 30 percent? 
Should foreign workers be allowed to hold union office?  End 
Summary. 
 
2. (SBU) Ambassador called on UAE Labor Minister, Mattar 
Humaid Al-Tayer, on September 27 to discuss the upcoming TIFA 
council meeting and to express our concerns about 
deficiencies in the UAE's current labor law, such as the lack 
of provision for trade unions and collective bargaining. 
Al-Tayar said that the UAE knew that it needed to deal with 
the issue of trade unions on an expedited basis and that UAE 
stakeholders were engaging in a real, genuine debate on the 
subject.  Al-Tayar said that he would be willing to provide 
the draft labor law, currently under review by the Ministry 
of Justice Technical Committee to the U.S. with two provisos: 
one) the law is a draft and subject to change; and two) he 
only has an Arabic edition.  (Note: In a September 25 
meeting, Undersecretary of Labor Khalid Al-Khazraji told 
EconChief that the UAEG had divided the labor issue into two 
parts: the revised labor law, which has a clause specifically 
permitting the creation of labor unions; and a labor union 
law, which is under draft and about 80 percent completed. End 
Note.) 
 
3. (SBU) Minister Al-Tayar said that creating a labor union 
law would be a major challenge for him over the next year, 
adding that he fully expected every clause to be scrutinized 
and debated in the federal cabinet and the appointed Federal 
National Council.  He explained that labor unions were a 
complex issue for the UAE.  As a young country, the UAE does 
not have the experience with organized labor to draw on that 
a country like the U.S. does.  More importantly, the UAE has 
a unique labor demographic, which is overwhelmingly foreign. 
For this reason, Al-Tayer said, the Ministry of Labor was 
consulting with the ILO and had brought in several other 
outside consultants to help draft its new labor laws.  MoL 
was also actively consulting with UAE stakeholders, including 
professional associations and the various chambers of 
commerce and industry.  Al-Tayer said that the professional 
associations (associations of nationals in certain 
professions, like engineering or law) were pushing for the 
most permissive/liberal trade union law.  He added that these 
organizations, naturally, were pushing to obtain their 
rights.  He noted that the chambers of commerce and business 
representatives were more concerned about managing 
potentially negative impacts from foreign workers.  MoL was 
also reviewing existing laws to see what laws promote unions 
and what laws hinder their creation.  He noted that the UAE 
constitution, for example was silent on the question of unions 
 
4. (SBU) Al-Tayer said that UAE stakeholders were going 
through a vigorous debate about labor reform and labor 
unions, especially on how much power to grant unions.  There 
were proposals, for example, to include UAE national civil 
servants in the labor law.  Al-Tayer also said that the 
debate had reached the level of a debate over nomenclature 
(i.e. should unions be called "unions" or "committees" or 
"associations").  He added that, in his view, when the UAE 
allows unions to form, it might as well call them unions. 
Calling them "associations" could weaken them, he said, but 
calling them "unions" won't give them any authority not 
provided for by law. 
 
5. (SBU) Al-Tayer stated that the UAE had lagged behind other 
countries in the GCC in grappling with the issue of labor 
unions.  Even Saudi Arabia was taking steps forward, he 
noted.  Al-Tayer said that Bahrain had the most liberal union 
law that he was aware of, but Bahrain did not have the same 
overwhelming population of foreign workers.  Qatar had put a 
clause into its new labor law that unions could establish 
themselves and Oman provided for workers committees.  The 
UAE, he said, wanted to deal with this in a more 
comprehensive fashion.  (Note:  According to MoL U/S Dr. 
Khalid Al-Khazraji, the revised labor law has an article that 
specifically permits the establishments of unions.) 
 
6. (C) Although there is a vigorous debate within the UAE on 
how best to create labor unions, it is clear that the most 
difficult issue for the UAE is the overwhelming foreign 
population in the country (80-85 percent of the total 
population and 98 percent of the private sector work force). 
Al-Tayar said that if the Ministry of Labor wanted to open 
trade union membership to nationals only and close the door 
to expatriate participation, it would be easy, but wouldn't 
solve the problem.  As it is, the UAEG is looking at how to 
regulate foreign participation in unions and is looking at 
other countries, like Singapore and Switzerland that have 
large expatriate worker populations to see how they deal with 
this subject.  Speaking rhetorically, he asked whether 
expatriates be should be allowed to vote, stand for election, 
or just participate in unions.  He said that even the foreign 
experts that the UAEG has hired find the question 
challenging, noting potential problems with membership in two 
unions (home country and UAE) and with the fact that many 
foreign workers remain in the UAE for only a few years. 
 
7. (C) The large expatriate workforce also presents 
demographic and security challenges.  In an earlier meeting, 
Al-Khazraji noted that the UAE national population was 
growing rapidly and that almost 48 percent of the UAE 
national (as opposed to expatriate) population was under 22. 
He added that he thought that the UAE was currently in a 
better position than some of its neighbors, job wise, but 
stressed that bringing these people into the labor force was 
a challenge that the UAE needed to face.  Contacts in the MFA 
and the UAE military and security services have also stressed 
the security challenges caused by the large and diverse 
expatriate population, many of whom were from countries like 
Pakistan or Afghanistan. 
 
8. (C) Comment:  The Labor Minister emphasized that the UAE 
is committed to protecting workers rights.  It is also clear 
that he and the UAEG are trying to grapple with the issue of 
creating trade unions and balancing security with workers 
rights.  The U.S.-educated Al-Tayer, who comes from a private 
sector background, believes that workers should have the 
right to join unions and is looking at providing expatriate 
workers with some form of representation in the unions.  We 
see the UAEG undertaking a slow deliberative process as it 
draws in a wide range of stakeholders to consider the issue 
of trade unions.  For the UAE, these are important and 
sensitive issues and it is more likely that changes will be 
sustainable if the UAE does pay serious attention to the 
issues.  We are encouraged that the UAEG is working to get 
"buy-in" from various stakeholders as it develops labor laws 
that address its interests and seek to conform with 
international norms.  End Comment. 
SISON