“The workers’ rights is a red line that the government cannot tolerate crossing it,” Saeed Ghobash told Khaleej Times.
“Cooperation in issuing quick verdicts in labour cases is progressing satisfactorily. Settlement of labour cases in Abu Dhabi court reached 90 per cent in 2008, thanks to the leadership’s care for the workers which led to dedicating special prosecution offices and courts for labour disputes,” he added.
This, he indicated, is reflected in the national laws and the country’s international agreements which aim at serving the interests of the workers and respecting their rights as partners in development.
“It is our duty to give them their full rights and justice comes to crown this right,” he said.
The government’s policies are being harmonised for giving the workers their complete rights taking into consideration that some workers don’t approach the courts because of financial difficulty, a matter that led the President, His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to issue a new law exempting workers from paying judicial fees, he said.
Meanwhile, Humaid bin Deemas, Acting Director-General of Ministry of Labour, said a partnership between the ministry and the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, which had created a joint taskforce and a labour office at the courts, had led to a significantly quicker process of settling labour cases.
“Most labour cases at the Abu Dhabi primary court are settled in one month from the date of referral to the court. In case of appeal, it takes no more than two months,” Bin Deemas said.
He said the launch of the new integrated premises of the labour court in Abu Dhabi had proved to be a breakthrough. Counsellor Sultan Al Badi, Undersecretary of the Judicial Department in Abu Dhabi, said figures showed the Abu Dhabi primary court’s labour circuits examined 1,223 cases in 2008 of which 1,117 were settled — 90 per cent.
