as-salaam aleikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,
sister Tahani, I just wanted to elaborate on some of the comments you made in reply to my last blog post..
you said:
"Before the law was brought in that workmen had to be taken to and from their labour camps in proper buses etc, they used to be transported in metal cattle trucks without windows (just slits for air) and other disgusting forms of transport."
Oh wow.. that is just shocking!! Astagferallah that it was once even considered ok to do by some people.
you said:
"My late partner was an ex minister of Dubai Labour and I could never really get him to understand how sad the sistuation was for certain expats."
I totally forgot to mention this on my blog post..... remember that those "certain expats" aren't even given the title of expat. they are called domestic workers, unskilled laborers etc...
you said:
"The other thing I really hate about UAE because it still exists today is the difference in salary paid to nationalities because of their passport. A friend doing the exact same job in a company in the same office was paid 10,000 dhs a month more than her Indian co worker and this I find disgusting."
Yes!!! I was thinking about doing another blog post on this issue but hadn't gotten around to it...
There is no equal opportunity employment over here! Just like you said, salary discrimination exists based on national origin. Educated expats from places like India and Pakistan receive much lower salaries than educated expats from Western countries. At one company I know of, the previous personal assistant to a V.P. who was from Saudi Arabia had a starting salary of 13,000Dhs. When she left the job the next person hired was from India, and her starting salary? 6,000Dhs.
I have tried have discussions about this over here and barely anyone thought there was a real problem with that. some just shrugged their shoulder like "oh well, it is what it is" and others just think its ok because in countries like India, they would never be able to make the salaries they would get in UAE.
For those that believe the locals should be a stronger force in the private work sector, if you think about it, why would a company hire a UAE national with a degree in IT over an Indian national with the same degree? They can save a lot more money hiring the Indian national and so the UAE national with an IT degree finds it difficult to enter the private sector.
This UAE national may find a job in the government though with no problems as the government doesn't have to worry about cost-cutting like some private companies must. If it is going to be legal to pay someone less for the exact same job having the exact same qualifications.... its obvious a lot of companies will overlook those whom they would have to pay a larger salary. And it is not just IT... that was just one sector I was talking about.
Oh, and also, In a system like this, you would even think automatically that a UAE national would hold at least equal to, or even higher than the highest salaries paid to people from certain countries. But nope, there are jobs where a British national would have a higher salary than a UAE national holding the same position with the same responsibilities, same education.
And another issue that I can't get over is the lack of laws to protect employees from certain things... like for instance, where someone I know worked, a group of three who worked as a team in one department for a company went and complained to Human Resources about how their manager was treating them. Next thing you know, the manager assigned them all to different departments to split them up in retaliation for what they did. That is absolutely wrong that Human Resources let the manager know about who reported him and that is absolutely wrong that the manager could then retaliate. There should be safeguards in place where employees can report problems anonymously.
Another example... a friend's husband who was working here in Dubai. At his job everyone had to completely kiss the butt of the boss. And I mean completely. If in a meeting he suggested something and someone spoke up and made another suggestion or disagreed--even with good reason, the next you know that person was fired. And I mean the very next day, and that person was forced to immediately be out of the provided-for accomodation in 24 hours. He saw this happen a lot where he worked. And the boss? An American!! An American whose position went to his head in a country where he would get away with it going to his head too.
I had never thought about it before but if the US did not have these labor laws, this kinds of stuff would be rampant as well--I mean companies still try to get away with crap, but there are still lots of people who are able to take their companies to court and win their cases. This American boss who is still the boss of the place today (my friend's husband quit and decided to no longer stay in this country--a huge part was all because of the fact that the workplace atmosphere was so bad and no laws to protect everyone.)
That being said, Americans are not necessarily any more innocent when it comes to this. So many companies are having their products made in countries with abusive labor laws. The companies know about it, and so do many Americans who are buying the products. Just because its not happening on their turf do they get to say they are innocent of it all.
The government does have laws concerning firing and such, but even if someone can get fired and get their job back through UAE's labor department, its the retaliation they may receive that they are not protected from. And some places do make hell for an employee who dared go report them to the labor department (ok... its really late right now and it is probably called something else than just labor department but I cannot think of it LOL)
Wa alaikum salaam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh!
ReplyDeleteI agree with a lot of what you had to say sis! And a lot of Indians no long want to take a job in UAE. I saw this first hand, where a chef would say "Yes I may be earning a lot less here, but at least I have some human dignity and freedom here in India"
At the same time I wanted to point out that one of the side effect of all the Labor Laws we have here in US, a lot of the jobs left US. US economy is surviving primarily on Service Industry. Here in Chicago, manufacturing has shrunk drastically since 1980s. It left to all the countries that doesn't have labor laws, that doesn't have strict governing or monitoring of activities (Hello! Halliburton/KBR)
For the countries that doesn't have labor laws or have lax labor laws, they have real reasons for not enacting and enforcing labro laws--> Profit and economy.
It's really sad to see this happening, in a rich country. But, they do it, cause they get away with it. So- on the high end, not only are the locals sol with a good job, but the ones who take them, are basically screwed too.
ReplyDeleteYes, you made some good points. InshaAllah I pray things will change here sometime soon. Its still a very young country, so there is time to change, the sooner the better inshaAllah
ReplyDeleteI do think that wage discrimination happens in the US, but it's way more discrete and possibly to a lesser degree. Men often get paid more than women. Also, green card holders usually are offered lower salaries than US citizens.
ReplyDeleteI studied chemical engineering, and there were a lot of masters students from India who wanted to stay in the US and work. They were getting offered salaries equal to or less than some of the US citizen students who only had a bachelors degree. So, yes, companies in the US do try to take advantage of foreigners as well.
I think Saudi Arabia has a similar nationality/wage ladder. And, I think many Saudis are underpaid, especially when compared to Americans...and especially when you add in all the benefits. My husband works for a very large company that hires a lot of foreigners, and you can't imagine how many benefits they get over the Saudis. It's really crazy. Sometimes I wish I am the one working just so we can make that much money and take advantage of the benefits. but, alhamdulillah we have enough.
Sonia... yes.. you are right.. this did happen at the expense of job available to Americans... its very sad.
ReplyDeleteAnd sis Umm Riyam yes.. you are right--there is more discrete unfair things happening in the workplaces in the US... that is also ridiculous to think that if it was you who was the one working at your husband's company, that you would have more benefits. That just isn't fair that just because he is Saudi he doesn't get them.
I actually have a case of reverse discrimination: my field won't hire me here in Qatar because I'm American and therefore would have to be paid a living wage (enough for an apartment and food), versus the Filipina or Indonesian aestheticians who aren't licensed, but will work for 1/4 of the wage. It sucks on both sides. They should be making just as much for their work, with a sliding scale based on education and experience, not race.
ReplyDeleteAnd in the US, at least in the corporate jobs, the system isn't all that great. A lot of places have at-will employment, meaning they can fire one at any time, for any reason and there's nothing the employee can do about it except try to file for unemployment. I once had a manager try to write me up and threaten to fire me because I was getting too much overtime (overtime gained because his 3 other employees were late 8 shifts out of 11 and never traded hours with me to make up the difference).
Salamu Aleikum,
ReplyDeleteIt was quite interesting to review different views on this topic. I am not UAE national, however my husband is. I might be wrong, but I think it is absolutely fair and should be acceptable by expats that locals are being paid much more benefits in their own country. They are a minority over here and since the country is very young and nationals had no chance (as people in other countries) to get a qualified education in the past, they need a help from their government and country to live a good quality of life with ability to grow to be able to compete in the future. I respect what this country is doing because of one very simple reason. They didn't give much freedom to foreigners and by this protected the dominant positions for their own people.
It is their country and they want to keep it for themselves in the future, which can't be wrong. Otherwise it would be ruled by indians, chinese, brits and americans.
They are already giving lots of opportunities for families to live better life in UAE than in their own country. Plus they are not forcing anyone to come here, EXPATS LIVE IN UAE ONLY BECAUSE THEY LIVE A BETTER LIFE HERE AND THOSE WHO DON'T, THEY JUST LEAVE.
And one more thing, will any american or british except a salary of 3,000 dhs? Never! That's why they are paid better. This life is about demand and supply.
Imagine for a second what would happen to UAE if Indians were paid as much as Brits??
The salaries are based on the background of each nationality and if an average salary in the states is let's say $2,000 you have to pay an american at least $3000cash + other expenses to be able to convince him to come to UAE and work for you. However, a citizen of filipines will be happy to come and work for $300-$400 for the same position. And since,no matter what you all say, it is more prestigious for any company to bring an american instead of filipino, they do what they can afford.
And if any of us had a chance to hire an indian or american for the same amount,and with the same educational background, no one would go for the first option. Why? Because American speaks better english, more presentable and will impress in this part of the world, which means will bring more business and improve the image of the company.
I just do not understand why people make it so complicated for themselves... just except the reality as it is and try to live a better life.
And please do not forget, there are lots of Indians and iranians living much better life in UAE than any uae national or brit, and also many of them who are receiving 40-50,000 dhs / month, which is a dream salary for them in their home countries.
I feel like to argue about this topic is the same as arguing about feeling sorry about chinese for not being able to bring more than one child, due to birth control issues.
This is all from God and we just have to live with what we have.
Please comment on things you dissagree, so that I correct myself.
Salamu Aleikum,
ReplyDeleteIt was quite interesting to review different views on this topic. I am not UAE national, however my husband is. I might be wrong, but I think it is absolutely fair and should be acceptable by expats that locals are being paid much more benefits in their own country. They are a minority over here and since the country is very young and nationals had no chance (as people in other countries) to get a qualified education in the past, they need a help from their government and country to live a good quality of life with ability to grow to be able to compete in the future. I respect what this country is doing because of one very simple reason. They didn't give much freedom to foreigners and by this protected the dominant positions for their own people.
It is their country and they want to keep it for themselves in the future, which can't be wrong. Otherwise it would be ruled by indians, chinese, brits and americans.
They are already giving lots of opportunities for families to live better life in UAE than in their own country. Plus they are not forcing anyone to come here, EXPATS LIVE IN UAE ONLY BECAUSE THEY LIVE A BETTER LIFE HERE AND THOSE WHO DON'T, THEY JUST LEAVE.
And one more thing, will any american or british except a salary of 3,000 dhs? Never! That's why they are paid better. This life is about demand and supply.
Imagine for a second what would happen to UAE if Indians were paid as much as Brits??
The salaries are based on the background of each nationality and if an average salary in the states is let's say $2,000 you have to pay an american at least $3000cash + other expenses to be able to convince him to come to UAE and work for you. However, a citizen of filipines will be happy to come and work for $300-$400 for the same position. And since,no matter what you all say, it is more prestigious for any company to bring an american instead of filipino, they do what they can afford. And we all know that if any of us had a chance to hire an indian or american for the same amount, no one would go for the first option.
Correct me if I am wrong please.
Actually, the truth is, anywhere in this world there is discrimination. It is something that cannot be avoided. It is almost the same to racism, there are judgmental people and they tend to criticize almost everything.
ReplyDeletesalaam aleikum anonymous/expat opinion- you bring up a lot of good points.
ReplyDeleteUAE-you are right, there is discrimination...
I understand that things aren't going to change...
though I sure do hope that situations where employees want to complain about issues they have with others in a department/company will be able to do so without the other person being able to retaliate against them.