Monday, November 19, 2007

Labor Unrest in Abu Dhabi

Source: Arab Business—Jaber Eyes Labour Unrest from Weak Dirham

The dollar-pegged dirham has been continuing to decline compared to other major currencies. The declining dirham may cause labor unrest in Abu Dhabi. The dirham is becoming more and more weak.

Al Jaber employs more than 30,000 construction workers. Many of these workers come from neighboring countries. Workers are suffering because the declining dollar makes it much more costly for workers to purchase different currencies. Pressure is placed on the Abu Dhabi government to provide more land worker homes. The government owns most of the land in certain regions. The declining dirham has had a huge effect on other Middle Eastern countries as well.

Expatriate workers are being affected in other nations like the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Foreigners make up 80 percent of the population in the UAE. In Dubai, migrant workers rioted demanding an increase in pay for lost savings due to the declining dirham. Some employers agreed to a pay increase for only a small number of strikers.

For Discussion:
Will the dirham continue to decrease and cause continuous worker conflict in the Middle East? Will the decreasing dirham give other Middle Eastern countries an opportunity to succeed at a faster rate?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Judy Asaad's article is misleading, labour unrest is not due to the the decline of the dirham pegged to the dollar. The labour unrest has nothing to do with the currency.
In plainspeak, the labour has not been paid by their employers for months and it has nothing to do with the currency value. Employers unfortunately have more rights than the expatriate worker. Think about that!!! and your research seems woefully inadequate to conclude as you have done in your article.