Examining Unions and Strike Rights: Implications for UAE Labour Law

This report examines the potential introduction of labor unions and the right to strike into UAE Labour Law, presenting five pros and cons for each. It explores the benefits of unions in providing a voice for employees, ensuring job security, and improving working conditions, while also considering the potential for creating monopoly power, reducing organizational decision-making capacity, and impacting profitability. Similarly, the analysis of the right to strike highlights its potential to satisfy employee demands and empower fair treatment but acknowledges risks such as reduced productivity and increased tensions between employees and management. Furthermore, the report compares the UAE's current status regarding unions and strikes with "Western" legal solutions, weighing the advantages of learning from Western countries against the challenges of applying those models to the unique geopolitical situation of the UAE. The report concludes by referencing relevant academic sources to support its analysis of labour unions and right to strike.

Labour Unions & the Right to Strike

1. Potential introduction of labour unions to UAE Labour Law (5 pros & 5
cons)
Pros Cons
1. Introduction of labour unions
would help in satisfying the interests
of the employees and prevent their
exploitation at the workplace.
1. Unions create a voice and
monopoly power at the workplace.
2. Offer a sense of job security to the
employees as the employers would
not be able to dismiss their workers
in an unfair manner (Brigden, 2009).
2. Introduction of unions reduces the
organisational decision making
capacity of the management to a
significant extent.
3. The business establishments
would be compelled to share their
profits with their employees.
3. Unionizations can create changes
in the corporate policies and
practices of an organistion which is
mainly used to promote, transfer or
lay off employees.
4. The employees would have a
greater role in shaping up the
organisational culture.
4. There is a reduction in the
shareholder returns following
unionization as business
establishments have to share their
profits with their workers (Brigden,
2009).
5. There would be better working
conditions for the employees and
career growth prospects for the
employees.
5. Unions reduce the employers’
ability to consider merit and
performance as a criterion while
making personnel decisions thereby
reducing flexibility at the workplace.

2. Potential introduction of the right to strike to UAE Labour Law (5 pros
& 5 cons)
Pros Cons
1. Satisfy the demands and interest of
the employees at the workplace.
1. Can make the employees more
complacent at their jobs.
2. Ensure better working conditions
for the employees at the workplace.
2. It can promote greater indiscipline
among the workers by providing a
platform to raise their voice against
the management.
3. Provide a sense of job security to
the employees.
3. Can create greater tensions and
standoff between the employees and
the management (Burchill, 2014).
4. It would make the management
more understanding and considerate
towards the needs and expectations
of their staffs.
4. Right to strike will invariably
bring down the organisational
productivity.
5. Play a crucial role in empowering
the employees to demand fair
treatment at the workplace.
5. It would ultimately affect the
smooth functioning of an
organisation.
3. Comparison of status of unions and strike in the UAE with “Western”
legal solutions (pros & cons)
Pros Cons
1. Helps to understand where UAE
currently stands in terms of labour
protection and labour rights.
1. Comparison does not apply as the
existing labour laws in UAE are
vastly different from those of the
Western nations.
2. It would help UAE to learn from 2. Mere comparison would not

the Western Countries how to protect
and satisfy the interest of their
workforce (Burchill, 2014).
provide any substantial changes in
the area of labour welfare and labour
reform until and unless the labour
ministry in UAE is really willing to
make a conscious effort to introduce
reforms in the labour sector.
3. UAE would be able to incorporate
better labour laws thereby reforming
the labour and human resource
sector.
3. It can lead to greater confusion
among the lawmakers because the
geo-political situation in UAE is
vastly different from those of the
western nations.
4. The lack of collective bargaining
under the present existing UAE
labour laws has helped in creating
more job opportunities which
contributed to the economic growth
of UAE (Clayton and Colville,
2014).
4. Countries such as France are in
Economic doldrums mainly due to
the fact that their labour markets is
overly regulated and thus workers
are able to spend more time
protesting than actually contributing
towards organisational productivity
(Clayton and Colville, 2014).
5. Comparison would help to deliver
tangential benefits for the employees
in the long haul and promote greater
employee welfare.
5. This can eventually create job
losses and mass scale unemployment
if business establishments are able to
see the withering away of their profit
margins.
References
Brigden, C. (2009). Unions and Collective Bargaining in 2008. Journal of Industrial
Relations, 51(3), pp.365-378.
Burchill, F. (2014). Labour relations. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Clayton, J. and Colville, E. (2014). Collective Bargaining Rights of Employees in the UAE |
Global Workplace Insider. [online] Global Workplace Insider. Available at:
https://www.globalworkplaceinsider.com/2014/04/collective-bargaining-rights-of-employees-
in-the-uae/ [Accessed 13 Apr. 2018].