US embassy cable - 03ABUDHABI1204

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WILDCAT STRIKE RESOLVED WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF THE LABOUR MINISTRY

Identifier: 03ABUDHABI1204
Wikileaks: View 03ABUDHABI1204 at Wikileaks.org
Origin: Embassy Abu Dhabi
Created: 2003-03-12 13:52:00
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Tags: ELAB PREL PHUM PGOV SOCI CVIS TC
Redacted: This cable was not redacted by Wikileaks.
null
Diana T Fritz  05/24/2007 04:53:30 PM  From  DB/Inbox:  Search Results

Cable 
Text:                                                                      
                                                                           
      
UNCLASSIFIED

SIPDIS
TELEGRAM                                           March 12, 2003


To:       No Action Addressee                                    

Action:   Unknown                                                

From:     AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI (ABU DHABI 1204 - ROUTINE)         

TAGS:     ELAB, PREL, PHUM, PGOV, SOCI, CVIS                     

Captions: None                                                   

Subject:  WILDCAT STRIKE RESOLVED WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF THE     
          LABOUR MINISTRY                                        

Ref:      None                                                   
_________________________________________________________________
UNCLAS        ABU DHABI 01204

SIPDIS
CXABU:
    ACTION: ECON 
    INFO:   DCM P/M AMB POL 
Laser1:
    INFO:   FCS 

DISSEMINATION: ECON
CHARGE: PROG

APPROVED: DCM: RAALBRIGHT
DRAFTED: ECON: GARANA
CLEARED: ECON: TEWILLIAMS

VZCZCADI033
RR RUEHC RUCPDOC RUEHZM
DE RUEHAD #1204 0711352
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 121352Z MAR 03
FM AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8823
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC
RUEHZM/GCC COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS ABU DHABI 001204 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARP, NEA/RA, DRL AND EB/CBA 
STATE PASS OPIC/OPIC INTERNATIONAL POLICY DEPARTMENT FOR VIRGINIA 
GREEN AND HARVEY HAMBURG 
USDOC FOR 4530/ITA/MAC/ONE/DGUGLIELMI, 
4520/ITA/MAC/ONE/CLOUSTAUNAU, 
4500/ITA/MAC/DAS/WILLIAMSON, 
3131/CS/OIO/ANESA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB, PREL, PHUM, PGOV, SOCI, CVIS, TC 
SUBJECT:  WILDCAT STRIKE RESOLVED WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF THE 
LABOUR MINISTRY 
 
REF: A) ABU DHABI 941, B) ABU DHABI 1090 
 
1. (U) Local press prominently reported the resolution of a 
strike by forty laborers against a contracting firm on March 11. 
The employees stopped working for a week to protest the decision 
of the firm to pay them daily instead of monthly (why daily 
payments were perceived as pernicious by the workers is not 
clear).  Though the original work contract mandated daily 
payments, the employer had been paying wages on a monthly basis 
for the previous six months. The Labour Disputes Section of the 
Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs dispatched a team to 
investigate the complaint and mediated an agreement between the 
parties, convincing the workers to end their protest.  The 
Ministry sided with the workers and concluded that since they had 
been paid monthly for the last six months, the original contract 
was superceded. The contractor agreed to abide by the Ministry's 
decision. 
 
2.(SBU) Comment:  As this example demonstrates, workers in the 
UAE enjoy some degree of latitude when it comes to exercising 
their rights.  The environment fostered by the government is 
generally permissive, explaining why the occasional work 
stoppage/strike, while technically unsanctioned in law, is 
nonetheless viewed benignly by the authorities.  Although these 
informal rights are not inconsiderable, the UAE federal 
government--in an effort to further modernize the economy -- is 
nonetheless pushing forward with formal legislation to 
institutionalize unions and clearly define their role (see 
reftels). 
 
Wahba 

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