Seventy workers for construction firm Arabtec are in custody in Dubai following a protest demanding wage increases in a labour camp, The National newspaper reported on Wednesday. "Seventy Arabtec workers were detained by police yesterday (Tuesday) in connection with a protest to demand a wage increase," the Abu Dhabi government-owned newspaper said in a report on its website.
It said that about 3,000 Arabtec workers began protests two weeks ago, demanding a salary increase. "We had been trying to provide solutions to the problem for the last 10 days," the report quoted Colonel Mohammed al-Mur, the director general of the Dubai Police General Department of Legal and Disciplinary Control, as saying. "We gave workers the option to either go back to work or ask the company to cancel their papers and send them back home. Currently, the majority of the workers are weighing these two options," Mur said.
On the 70 who had been arrested, Mur said: "We will decide what legal action will be taken against them," based on their involvement in the protest and on whether or not they incited other workers to take part. Arabtec declined to comment when asked by AFP about the report. Demonstrations are banned in the United Arab Emirates, a federation of seven Gulf emirates of which oil-rich Abu Dhabi is the capital.
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