The Blue Suits

The labor force here in Abu Dhabi is made up of men from countries like India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. They leave their families and come to work here in tough conditions, working 6 days a week, for small wages but for what must be more than they could make in their home countries. Many are hired by construction companies here and are given housing & transportation. Sounds great right? But it’s not really. The companies have housing complexes that are far out from the city and the men live 6-8 to a small house, like a pre-fabricated home that we would see in the states. Transportation is usually a bus that would take them directly to & from their construction site. These men are given blue work suits which is how they got the nick name “the blue suits”! The following was recently published in The National newspaper here, as part of an article about trying to match up mentors with these laborers: “..a typical day for a labourer begins at 4.30am, waiting in the bathroom queue, after which they need to get ready to be transported to their job site where they spend at least 11 hours, only to come back home and attend to chores at the camp.”

We have 2 very large buildings that are under construction behind our building, so we see hundreds of the “blue suits”. It has been very interesting watching them operate! Many are on the ground helping move materials and many are up in the buildings doing the actual construction work. Many of us joke about those that are on the ground as it often appears that only a few are actually working while the rest sit and watch!

I was noticing that while I was making dinner I would hear a lot of commotion outside. So one afternoon I stepped out on the balcony to see what it was. There I saw about one hundred of the “blue suits” lined up at the entrance to the construction site. Well actually there was one line and then a mass of about 25 men next to the line. In addition, there were what appeared to be guards who were directing these men. I found this fascinating so I left dinner preparations and watched the dynamics of this process for about half an hour!

5pm must be a major shift change and the buses that take these men home arrive at the entrance to the site. At this point the men that are in the line are directed by the guards to enter the bus in groups of about 5 or 6 at a time. Occasionally, someone who is not in the line but part of this mass, tries to cut into the line and enter the bus. This causes the men in the line to cry out in anger! The men in the line then begin to put their hands on each other’s shoulders and get very close to each other so that no one can break their chain! It is very interesting to watch as the line is very structured but this mass continues to move like an ameba near the line. Once in a while a guard will pull back a stray “blue suit” who is trying to cut and bring him back to the mass! When the next bus arrives, the men from the line run towards it, still holding each other’s shoulders!

This same routine occurs everyday at the same time. And the same raucous goes along with it! It really is fascinating to watch! I feel sorry for these men. They have left their families for years at a time, working with only one day off a week, and in the summer months, the weather is brutal for those working outside. Sometimes it is uncomfortable being surrounded by them, but it is part of the life here!