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Labourers back to work after police intervention

SHARJAH — Around 500 labourers of a company refused to work at Al Sajja in Sharjah last Saturday because they alleged that they were not paid salaries for the past few months and their accommodation was in a shambles.

They resumed work yesterday after police intervention and an assurance that the problems would be solved within a couple of days.

A group of workers, all Asians, complained that their requests for the payment of wages had fallen on deaf ears.

Moreover, they said the company was not concerned about providing them with medical treatment if they fell sick. They added that their accommodation didn’t have adequate power and water supply.

Denying the allegations, an official of the firm said the actual cause of the strike was the company being in possession of their labour cards and the issue had already been settled.

According to a Sharjah Police official, the labourers refused to leave for work on Saturday morning. The police were informed by an official from the company that the workers were striking.

The police immediately reached the spot and discussed the issue with company officials who agreed to meeting the workers’ demands within a couple of days. “The police will follow up on the case until the problem is solved. The workers have resumed their work,” he added

The managing director of the company, however, said, “The workers live in five-star accommodation and receive their salaries on time.”

He said the workers were in reality protesting against their labour cards being kept with the company.

“According to the company policy, we keep labour cards and have issued them only the copies of their cards simply for safe custody. But, after the case was transferred to the Ministry of Labour, the company has been asked to give the workers their cards. So, now we have handed over original labour cards to the workers solving the problem,” he said.

• UAE