Latest editorial
THE United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced measures yesterday which are supposed to prevent the abuse of migrant workers.
Labour Minister Saqr Ghobash said three new decrees, which will come into force on January 1 2016, would prevent notorious practices amounting to modern-day slavery.
Migrant workers are often lured to the UAE on the promise of work only to have their passports confiscated by bosses to prevent them leaving. Trade unions are forbidden from organising and strikes are illegal.
The Bill addresses some exploitation but leaves trade unions heavily regulated, most workers without collective bargaining coverage, and fails to tackle the balance of power that enables constant mutation of bad practice, write KEITH EWING and LORD JOHN HENDY KC
