Banned trade unions and absent oversight give Gulf employers total advantage

Evidence

Some of the workers spoke about these issues candidly, but on the whole, they understood exploitation as one of the risks of traveling abroad. The labor migration system favors the wealthy company owners, as one migrant noted. Trade unions and strikes are illegal in the United Arab Emirates, except in professional occupations, so the construction companies that employ laborers are always at an advantage. Further, there are no independent human-rights, nongovernmental, or labor organizations empowered to oversee labor violations in Dubai. — Junaid Rana, Terrifying Muslims, 640