Sher Value: Labor Issues

Over the past week Al Jazeera International has being running a program on the issues of migrant labor and while investigative and issue provoking the recommendations are more implied than clearly stated. Indeed for the GCC countries issues of migrant labor are becoming important and this is an issue that the media, especially in the West seem to be catching on to. This does not suggest that all matters related to labor are fine, but in my opinion, if you are to discuss an issue the please also recommend what can be done to improve things.


I do feel that labor conditions will be a major issue within the realm of the media and various interested parties in the next few months. On the back of this attention there are some who are not making distinction between state sponsored exploitation of migrant workers and the breaking of laws by private companies. I do believe that GCC countries are concerned about labor issues and I know from being here in UAE that this is a matter of concern to the government. Over the years a number of measures have been taken to improve the situation and I understand that in the coming months the scrutiny on labor camps will become more focused.

However, a large number of the abuses start before the migrant worker has even arrived here. Many workers will tell you of the huge amounts of money they pay agents in their home countries prior to them even getting on the plane. In many cases, if not all, the agents are charging the worker for services, i.e. health checks, tickets, approvals and the visa cost, for which the employer in the GCC country has already paid the agent.

Thus the worker arrives into the country to work with a huge debt burden on his head, at times equal to a full years wages. This is perhaps the most pressing stress on his mind and results not only in depression but in many cases an acceptance of some harsh conditions knowing that he has not other option. There are a number of measures that need to be taken by all countries to fix these issues. Here are some of my recommendations:

Create an intra-governmental NGO comprising of GCC countries and countries from where the major work force comes. This NGO will be empowered with bringing about changes in laws on both sides that will help the workers.
Impose punitive fines and punishment on employers and agents who violate the laws, and this should be transparent and without exception.
Enact minimum wage legislation immediately.
Create a special insurance and pension fund for workers to which governments and employers will contribute, with the aim that when the workers retire they have a meaningful financial investment.
Improve the living conditions for workers and make it mandatory for companies to bring care for their workers.

It is important that these measures are enacted immediately and done so in a fully transparent manner. The problem is that the intent of the government is there it just needs to be given more teeth.

Sher Value: Class Actions-A Matter of Business

One of the amazing things about the promotion of capitalism and free economy is that even what are ostensibly service sectors get into the act of making money. Back in the 1960’s the idea of a class action suit was to reduce litigation costs and to bring some equity into the claim process should the class action be successful. It was a bold legal principle meant to champion the cause of the under privileged and the poor who could not afford a battle against a corporate giant.

Fifty odd ears on and class actions have become a business; some banks also have created private equity funds that back the legal and associated costs of class action battles. The result is that mushrooming of court dockets with class action cases some of which have little to do with justice than with the issues of commercialism.

The case of the case against Wal-Mart, Dukes versus Wal-Mart, filed in 2001 indicates how an employee, Betty Dukes, who was reprimanded by a female supervisor for prolonged lunch breaks, brought a $11 billion class action suit against the company on the basis of alleged sexual discrimination at work. Seven years later the battle continues with major funding backing Dukes s the idea of preying on a corporate giant is appealing to many; irrespective of the merits of the case.

Class action lawyers are not the sort of folk I will have for dinner, (does that mean I have violated some right of theirs), not because I question their social or legal skills, but simply because its too predatory a practice for me to accept. I am all for the underdog, I am all for justice, but can I accept the fact that most class action lawyers will take close to 60% of the settlement in cash. In some cases we find that some of the plaintiffs end up with ‘coupon settlements’ where all they get is coupons to buy more of goods and services from the defendant company, while the lawyers, nit surprisingly, have walked off with most of the cash settlement.

The expansion of this phenomenon has developed two aspects, one is where lawyers are trying to establish international jurisdiction of US courts for class action cases and secondly a move is under way to expand class action norms into the European legal system. This is a dangerous trend as it makes a mockery of what were essentially legal principles to establish fairness and equity. There is talk of bringing class action cases against a number of countries over issues of labor law and other human rights issues. While I am all for fair treatment of people I do have a major problem with American lawyers taking such aggressive positions ignoring their own track record. Have forgotten that some of the ‘Black Code’ laws of the Southern States in the US were formally abolished only about a decade back. Perhaps there is an argument for a class action case against Mississippi for allowing the Jim Crow laws and the Black Codes to continue so far into the progress of human history, and why not file that case in New Delhi? But then this is business not justice.