Wages too low for survival, Dubai labourers claim

[JCMach1]

A group of workers at a Dubai-based construction company have said they have been terminated from work because they stopped work last week to protest against their extremely low salaries.

The workers said the company was paying them between Dh350 and Dh550 and they could barely survive on this money.

“We came to work here and we have families to support and our salaries are very low,” said a worker.

The workers also claimed the company had not paid their salaries for almost three months and that they lived in appalling conditions at labour accommodation in Dubai Investment Park (DIP). ... http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/employment/wages-too-low-for-survival-dubai-labourers-claim-1.993564

That translates to about 90-130$ a month... This stuff was actually more prevalent during the real estate boom here.

[ellisonz]

1. A question for you out of curiousity...

Do you know if it is the general practice to pay different nationalities different wages in Dubai and the region in general?

[JCMach1]

2. Not only that there is blatant discrimination in hiring

and it is ALL legal.

[Douglas Carpenter]

3. throughout all the Gulf States an employee from a Western country or a local Gulf Arab citizens will

typically make at least three to five times as much and frequently a lot more than for example a Filipino or an Indian in the same line of work. Of course it is possible to recruit a Filipino or Indian housekeeper for $200 per month, or cook for $300 to $400 per month, or a nurse or accountant for $800 from the Philippines or Indian and have plenty of applicants to choose from - since this is likely a lot more than what they would currently be making in their home country.

[ellisonz]

4. Is there a hiearchy among non-Westerners?

In plantation Hawaii workers of different nations were used in different roles, housed in separate camps, and paid different wages.

[Douglas Carpenter]

5. to an extent

Malaysians and Koreans would make almost as much as Westerners and would rank in the pecking order just slightly lower than westerners. Since Gulf Arabs would pretty much be at the top - Arab people from non-Gulf State countries would rank a bit higher than other non-westerners. I suppose Filipinos would rank somewhat higher than Indians or Pakistanis...Indians or Pakistanis would rank a bit higher than Bangladeshis. But the difference in wages would not be as profound as the differences in wages between westerners (and Koreans, Malaysians and Gulf Arabs) and other non-westerners.

[ellisonz]

6. Hawaii went kinda like you describe

Americans
Northern Europeans

Gap

Portuguese/Spanish/Puerto Ricans
Hawaiians

Gap

Japanese
Koreans
Chinese

Gap

Filipinos

Gap

Blacks

[Douglas Carpenter]

7. Here in the Northern Marianas where I have lived since last July- Chinese tend to rank at the bottom

Most Chinese originally came as garment workers and tend to come from the rural peasantry – but with the collapse of the garment industry following the full implementation of GATT in 2004 and then the federalization of U.S. Labor Law when the Democrats came to power in 2006 – most are now working in the lower end of the service industry and a fair number in the sex industry. So it is local Chamarros and Carolinians who are U.S. Citizens at the top. Followed by other U.S. citizens – mostly Caucasians from the U.S. mainland followed by Japanese and Koreans and some Chinese who are usually business owners – followed by Filipinos who tend to be a combination of business owners and technical/professionals – and then the Chinese. But I have found that throughout most other Asian countries and even the Middle East where there are few Chinese - Chinese tend to be business owners and professionals and tend to rank in a much better postion.