5 Pinay workers file labor abuse charges in Dubai

MANILA, Philippines - Extensive working hours, poor accommodation, and signing a second contract that could reduce their salaries have prompted five Filipina workers of a popular restaurant in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to file labor abuse complaints at the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Dubai

Khaleej Times on Monday reported that the five women told the POLO that the contracts they signed with their Philippine recruiters stated that they would receive monthly salaries between Dh 1, 150 and Dh 1, 400 (about P13, 900 to P16, 900) for eight hours of work, six days a week.

This was aside from the free food and accommodation that would be provided to the women also based on their contracts.

However, according to Khaleej, the women claimed that when they arrived in Dubai, they were asked to sign contracts that were different from those that they had signed with their recruiters.

The women reportedly found out that many overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the UAE had also been asked to sign a second contract that reduced their salaries to about Dh 700 to Dh 800 (about P8, 500 to P9, 600).

The report also quoted the women as saying that they were hired as cashiers and saleswomen, but worked as waitresses in UAE for 16 hours a day or from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. the following day.

The women also complained about their poor accommodation in a three-bedroom apartment shared by 27 OFWs.

“We have only one toilet and bathroom in our accommodation. When we come back from work, we have to queue up to wash our uniforms as we are only given two pieces each. By the time we finish washing, it would be 4 a.m. (already)," one of them said.

The report said the women also told the POLO that they had difficulty sleeping because each of them had to share her bed with another person. Due to lack of sleep one of them reportedly caught cold and fever three days after she arrived in Dubai.

Khaleej said that based on the women’s contracts signed in the Philippines, the Filipinas would have different employers in UAE. However, when they arrived in Dubai they reportedly found out that they would be working in the same chain of restaurants. This was never mentioned by their principal sponsor, according to the report.

Two manpower agencies in the Philippines recruited the Filipinas for a recruitment agency based in Dubai.

According to Khaleej, the agency supplies workers to the said chain of restaurants that operate in Shaikh Zayed Road, Al Maktoum and Deira in Dubai, Sharjah, Fujairah and Abu Dhabi.

Khaleej said it contacted the president of the agency who denied the accusations, and only said that, “These Filipinos are liars, liars, and liars."

But the report said the agency was already cooperating with the POLO to resolve the issue.

Khaleej said it was told by UAE undersecretary of labor Hamid bin Demas that the government was not responsible for employment contracts made outside the UAE.

“In such cases, the manpower agency responsible can only be tried in the country where the contracts were signed," he said.

Demas was quoted by Khaleej as saying that if the local sponsor is found guilty he or she will be required to send the workers back home at his or her expense.

The report said Philippine Consul General in Dubai Benito Valeriano would look into the case and resolve it.

“We respect the UAE law so we will seek justice for our OFWs under the local labor law," Valeriano was quoted by Khaleej as saying.

“We will investigate all labour transactions with these manpower agencies here and in the Philippines. If we find merit in the complaints of our OFWs, we will recommend suspension or revocation of their licences depending on the gravity of their offences," he added. - GMANews.TV

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