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400 workers stage protest in Ajman

AJMAN — More than 400 workers of an engineering company based in Ajman yesterday staged violent protests, stoning the company buses, demanding an increment of Dh200 in food allowance and hiking the overtime payment to Dh5 per hour.

by

Afkar Ali Ahmed

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Published: Tue 1 Apr 2008, 8:45 AM

Last updated: Sun 5 Apr 2015, 4:43 PM

The workers living in the labour camp located near Gulf Medical College (GMC) hospital in Ajman first staged a protest around 1.30am. Police managed to quell the protest.

A company official said the workers again staged protests around 8am, refusing to leave for the work site. The workers threw stones at the company bus waiting to transport them to their work site, the official said. The police had to be called in to control the protesters.

The company official said the workers had received increments 10 days back and they appeared happy. "We fail to understand the reason behind the protests now," he said.

S.M., one of the workers, said they are paid only Dh2 per hour for working overtime when the other companies pay their workers Dh5. "Besides, we are also demanding an increase of Dh200 in food allowance because the food prices have gone very high," he said.

Shaikh Sultan Al Nuaimi, Deputy Director-General of Ajman Police, told Khaleej Times that the company official called the police around 1.30am complaining about a labour strike. The officers and policemen rushed to the labour camp and managed to convince the workers to nominate five representatives to hold negotiations with the office of the Ministry of Labour in Ajman.

However, in the morning, the police received another call from the company about a fresh strike and violence. The police managed to control the workers and called in officials of the Ministry of Labour.

The labour officials who arrived at the protest site reviewed the labour contracts of the workers and described the protest illegal. The workers have no right to demand such increments especially after having got one recently, one of the officials said.

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