ABU DHABI, Nov 4: The United Arab Emirates said on Sunday it will “urgently” review wages of workers in the construction sector, which has been hit by a series of strikes.

The labour ministry, monitoring “work stoppages in a number of construction firms,” will start contacts with the companies concerned in the next few days in order to compile a study on salaries ordered by the cabinet, senior ministry official Humaid bin Deemas said.

The ministry requires employers to “pay the wages of workers in full and without any cuts for whatever reason,” in line with the agreed work contracts, bin Deemas was quoted by the state WAM news agency as saying.

An estimated 700,000 Asians, mostly from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, work as construction workers in the UAE, an oil-rich Gulf country experiencing an economic boom and where only some 20 per cent of the four million population are natives.

The government’s decision to look into salaries of construction workers follows a spate of strikes in the sector in protest at poor wages and living conditions, which in one case last week was accompanied by acts of vandalism.

The strikes by workers who usually earn between 500 dirhams ($136) and 700 dirhams ($190) a month defied a ban on public protests in the United Arab Emirates, where trade unions are not allowed.

Bin Deemas said his ministry rejected the pretexts cited by some firms to make cuts in their workers’ wages, adding that this amounted to “unacceptable exploitation” and would expose employers who make such cuts to penalties.

But he stressed the government will not tolerate violent protests, which would be “firmly” put down.

“There is a difference between peaceful worker demands and acts of riot and vandalism which occurred in certain cases,” Deemas said, adding that those who resort to violence would be prosecuted.—AFP