NYUAD vows to protect rights of workers

NYU Abu Dhabi is rewriting construction workers' contracts to show its support for human rights and fair working conditions.

According to the university, those involved in the construction of NYUAD — NYU's satellite campus in the United Arab Emirates — will be guaranteed basic labor protections when work begins later this year.

Migrant workers from Pakistan, India and surrounding countries are routinely lured to the U.A.E. by developers who promise high wages. But according to human rights organizations, the migrant construction workers are often charged huge upfront fees by recruiters, putting them in debt before they even begin to work. Promised salaries are lowered, and wages are often withheld.

In a statement released yesterday, NYU pledged to prevent this kind of abuse.

In addition to making rules regarding workers' wages and hours, NYU mandated that employers provide additional benefits — among them, 30 days of paid annual leave, employer-provided medical insurance and maternity leave, with full pay, for up to 45 days.

NYU's statement also ensured that employers would fully reimburse employees for fees associated with the recruitment process, a move Human Rights Watch calls unprecedented.

Although Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director for Human Rights Watch, called the statement a "huge step forward," she and other labor rights advocates doubt the university's ability to enforce the regulations.

According to Andrew Ross, professor of social and cultural analysis at NYU and a labor rights advocate, an independent third party must oversee the employers.

Ross, currently on sabbatical, is returning to the university's main campus on Monday to speak at a press conference with HRW about labor rights.

Last May, HRW issued an 80-page report regarding violations occurring at NYU's construction site on Saayidat Island. HRW called upon NYU and other organizations building on the island to obtain contracts that meet the requirements set forth by U.A.E. and international law.

But Ross, a vocal critic, is hopeful.

"It's rare that I get the pleasure of being able to applaud the NYU administration's efforts to do the right thing," he said. "These commitments, if they are enforced ... will better the daily conditions of a lot of workers in a meaningful way."

According to NYUAD spokesman Josh Taylor, ways to monitor employers are being worked out.

"We are finalizing those logistics [so] that they are in place prior to the start of the construction," he said.

Taylor also said the university is monitoring employers at NYU's temporary campus in downtown Abu Dhabi, which will welcome NYUAD's first class of freshmen this fall.

"Should we identify areas in which these standards are not being met, we will address them promptly," Taylor said.

NYU students have been lobbying the university to set standards since NYU announced the campus' construction in the fall of 2007.

The University Committee on Student Life passed a resolution asking NYU to establish a labor code of conduct.

The university responded in late April with a statement expressing its concern regarding workers' rights. While the new statement was what the resolution asked for, committee vice chairperson Whitney Petrie said it should have come sooner.

The Student Senate plans to respond to the statement that NYU recently released.