Labourers: The Unsung Heroes

As the world celebrated International Labour Day on May 1, reporter Vikram Singh Barhat rolled up his sleeves and sat down with a few labourers around the city who scratch out a living doing thankless menial jobs and get paid a pittance for it. These workers will never be mentioned in the pages of the history of modern Dubai.

Names have been changed and faces blurred to protect identity on the request of these men.

Deepak Shah
48, Cook

He has spent most of the last 25 years in the UAE. He started with Dh500 a month in 1982, and now earns Dh600. A quarter of a century spent to get a raise of Dh100.

"My most difficult time was when I remained jobless for two years. I was on vacation in my hometown in India when I decided to quit my job in Sharjah.

"My employer in Sharjah asked me to send him my passport for visa cancellation. The employer took almost two years to do that and kept my passport with him all that time. As a result I got stuck in India without a passport and could not travel to Dubai to take up a new job."

His current job at a restaurant in Dubai pays him Dh600 a month. He works seven days a week, 18 hours a day, starting at 6.30 each morning.

"I will get two months unpaid vacation when I complete two years at this job. The employer takes care of food and accommodation and that helps me save Dh500 which supports my wife and two sons back home."

He wants nothing more than to find his son a job in Dubai so he can quit his and return to India.

Abdus Salam
36, Car cleaner

After having worked in Dubai for six years he earns Dh800 a month, working up to 12 hours a day.

"I work six days a week. Each day I start work at 6am. Life is tough and times are hard. I cannot save any money.

"All my salary is spent on covering my daily expenses here and that of my family back home in Bangladesh."

His accommodation has been provided by the employer but he has to bear food and other expenses. He manages to send Dh600 a month to his family that consists of his parents, his wife and three kids.

"Right now there is no saving. But I am hoping some day in the future it will be possible. And when I have saved enough I will leave this country and set up my own business in my own country."

He said a monthly salary of Dh2,000 could make his dreams come true.

Hassan Kamal
41, Sweeper

He works for Dubai Municipality and has been cleaning the streets of Dubai for the past eight years. He works eight hours a day, five days a week and earns Dh850 a month.

"I started on a salary of Dh800 and have had a Dh50 raise in eight years. My workday starts at 5.30 every morning and on the days I do not work, I just stay home all day."

Accommodation is provided by the company, but he has to buy his own food.

He gets a month-long paid vacation each year which he spends with his wife and mother back home.

He feels a salary of Dh1,000 per month would be great.

Ramesh Bhatia
22, Cardboard collector

He works for a paper mill collecting cardboard boxes and empty cartons from rubbish bins and supermarkets around the city.

He collects about 150kg of cardboard a day and gets paid Dh400 a month.

He works 12 hours a day, seven days a week. He will get two months unpaid vacation after two years of service.

"I have no hobbies because I can't afford to have any. How can I when the people in my family sometimes have to go without food? Even a trip to the cinema is beyond my wildest dreams."

His dream job would be one that paid Dh800 a month, so that his family could live comfortably.