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VII. Workers’ Human Rights and Government Obligations under International Law

A comprehensive body of international law protecting workers’ rights has been developed over the past 50 years. Where a state has accepted to be bound by these standards, they apply to all workers in the country, both foreign and citizens. In most cases, a government’s obligation is to ensure that employers respect the rights of workers by law, regulation, investigation, and prosecution, as appropriate.

UAE Membership in the ILO

As already noted, the UAE is a member of the ILO. It has ratified six of the eight core ILO conventions, namely the conventions relating to elimination of forced and compulsory labor, elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation, and abolition of child labor. The UAE has also ratified ILO Convention No. 1 on hours of work, Convention No. 81 on labor inspection, and Convention No. 89 on night work (women).¹⁴⁴

The UAE has not ratified core ILO Conventions No. 87 on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize and No. 98 on the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining.¹⁴⁵ This notwithstanding, in its 1998 Declaration of Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, the ILO has emphasized that all member states must implement and respect fundamental workers’ rights within the ILO framework.¹⁴⁶ The Declaration specifically states that all members are obligated to allow freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining:

[A]ll members, even if they have not ratified the Conventions in question, have an obligation arising from the very fact of membership in the Organization, to respect, to promote, and to realize, in good faith and in accordance with the [ILO] Constitution, the principles concerning the fundamental rights which are the subject of those Conventions, namely: (a) freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining;…¹⁴⁷

The ILO interprets “freedom of association and effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining” under the Declaration to mean that “all workers and all employers have the right freely to form and join groups for the promotion and defence of their occupational interests.”¹⁴⁸ The ILO also requires that workers’ organizations be allowed to establish their own rules, operate freely, and elect their representatives in full freedom and that the organizations be truly independent and free of external interference: “Workers and employers can set up, join and run their own organisations without interference from the State or one another.”¹⁴⁹ In addition, the ILO requires that the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining be incorporated into the member states’ legal frameworks:

To realise the principle of freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining in practice requires, among other things, a legal basis which guarantees that these rights are enforced; an enabling institutional framework, which can be tripartite, between the employers’ and workers’ organisations, or combinations of both…¹⁵⁰

Furthermore, in 1975, the ILO Committee on Freedom of Association, stated that ILO members, by virtue of their membership, are “bound to respect a certain number of general rules which have been established for the common good.… Among these principles, freedom of association has become a customary rule above the Conventions.”¹⁵¹

The ILO has also recognized workers’ right to strike. The ILO’s Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations in 1994 stated that the “right to strike is an intrinsic corollary of the right to organize protected by Convention No. 87.”¹⁵²

ILO Convention No. 155 addresses occupational health and safety of workers.¹⁵³ Although the UAE has not ratified this convention, it should consider doing so and amending UAE labor law to incorporate its provisions as a step towards addressing serious concerns regarding the health and safety of workers in the country, particularly construction workers. The convention calls for national policies “to prevent accidents and injuries to health… by minimizing… the causes of hazards inherent in the working environment.” It urges states parties to “formulate, implement and periodically review a coherent national policy on occupational safety, occupational health and the working environment.” In addition, the convention calls for “the enforcement of laws and regulations concerning occupational safety and health” and urges “the holding of inquiries, where cases of occupational accidents… or any other injuries to health which arise in the course of or in connection with work appear to reflect situations which are serious.” It requires that government authorities ensure that “the publication, annually, of information on… occupational accidents, occupational diseases and other injuries to health which arise in the course of or in connection with work.”

Other International Standards

While the UAE is not a party to the instruments cited below, they constitute authoritative sources and guidelines that reflect international best practice.

Key international instruments protect workers’ rights to freedom of association and to bargain collectively, as well as the right to strike. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) recognizes “the right of everyone to form trade unions and join the trade union of his choice, subject only to the rules of the organization concerned, for the promotion and protection of his economic and social interests” and “the right to strike.”¹⁵⁴ The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights guarantees the right to freedom of association by stating, “Everyone shall have the right to freedom of association with others, including the right to form and join trade unions for the protection of his interests.”¹⁵⁵

The ICESCR specifies “the right of everyone to the enjoyment of just and favourable conditions of work which ensures, in particular… safe and healthy working conditions.”¹⁵⁶

The confiscation of passports by the employers of migrant workers is explicitly forbidden under the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. Article 21 of the convention states:

It shall be unlawful for anyone, other than a public official duly authorized by law, to confiscate, destroy or attempt to destroy identity documents, documents authorizing entry to or stay, residence or establishment in the national territory or work permits. No authorized confiscation of such documents shall take place without delivery of a detailed receipt. In no case shall it be permitted to destroy the passport or equivalent document of a migrant worker or a member of his or her family.

The UAE should consider signing and ratifying the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, and incorporating the convention’s provisions into domestic labor law to provide migrant workers the protections they are due under international law.