DUBAI // Five redundant managers of a bankrupt company have stayed on to help and find jobs for 1,500 workers left jobless and stranded by the closure.
Hastie International was one of 44 entities around the world belonging to the Hastie Group, a major Australian contractor that provided industrial air-conditioning, mechanical, electrical and plumbing work.
Most of those stranded are workers who live in labour accommodations in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
They were laid off on May 28 of this year with little hope of receiving their end-of-service benefits or being repatriated. They had been struggling to find food and medical attention since.
Hastie's top executives left the country but the five former managers have been trying to find new jobs for the stranded workers.
"I suppose in part we felt an obligation to all the guys to do something, because if we did not who else would?" said Neil Hislop former regional and commercial manager at Hastie International.
He and the four other former managers - Darren Hunt, Charles Lever, Trevor Arkle in Oman, and another who did not wish to be identified - have also been laid off and are acting on their own behalf.
Mr Hislop said that on a personal level, none of the five former managers were prepared to leave the UAE, which they considered their home. They were also looking for employment.
Partly thanks to their efforts, contractors such as Al Futtaim Carillion, Kele Contracting, Zublin and Al Habtoor-Specon for which Hastie used to work have agreed to hire the men and to pay the gratuity owed.
The Ministry of Labour and police, as well as Hastie's local sponsor Global Petroleum, have also pitched in to help.
"So far, most of the workers and staff will have some sort of offer," said Mr Hislop.
The five have also contributed from their own pockets for the men's welfare.
They said they had received no help from the company's Australian administrator, PBB Advisory, which took over matters after Hastie announced it was going bankrupt.
Despite several attempts, The National was unable to reach PBB in Australia.
The company has not yet paid a visit to the UAE, but it did send a representative through FTI, a company based in Hong Kong.
Mr Hislop said the FTI representative arrived in Dubai on the morning of May 28 and left the same day.
"He told us there was no money and all the workforce were stood down," said Mr Hislop, adding that western expatriates and senior managers were advised to leave the UAE immediately.
The next day, the five managers were the most senior former employees still in the region.
Among the people who were left behind were about 950 staff of Hastie International and some 500 people working for Rotary International, a sister company.
But there was no money to provide for the former staff's needs.
"As you can imagine, the last few weeks have not been without their challenges, as we have had hundreds of operatives or staff who are not happy about the situation, and at times it has become fraught," Mr Hislop said.
The situation was so tense that representatives of the Bangladeshi embassy visited the four labour accommodations in Dubai and Abu Dhabi to quell tensions, he said.
Hastie worked on projects worth billions of dirhams in the Gulf, including the new campus of Zayed University and Dalma Mall, both in Abu Dhabi.
vtodorova@thenational.ae
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A new relationship with the old country
Treaty of Friendship between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates
The United kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates; Considering that the United Arab Emirates has assumed full responsibility as a sovereign and independent State; Determined that the long-standing and traditional relations of close friendship and cooperation between their peoples shall continue; Desiring to give expression to this intention in the form of a Treaty Friendship; Have agreed as follows:
ARTICLE 1 The relations between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates shall be governed by a spirit of close friendship. In recognition of this, the Contracting Parties, conscious of their common interest in the peace and stability of the region, shall: (a) consult together on matters of mutual concern in time of need; (b) settle all their disputes by peaceful means in conformity with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.
ARTICLE 2 The Contracting Parties shall encourage education, scientific and cultural cooperation between the two States in accordance with arrangements to be agreed. Such arrangements shall cover among other things: (a) the promotion of mutual understanding of their respective cultures, civilisations and languages, the promotion of contacts among professional bodies, universities and cultural institutions; (c) the encouragement of technical, scientific and cultural exchanges.
ARTICLE 3 The Contracting Parties shall maintain the close relationship already existing between them in the field of trade and commerce. Representatives of the Contracting Parties shall meet from time to time to consider means by which such relations can be further developed and strengthened, including the possibility of concluding treaties or agreements on matters of mutual concern.
ARTICLE 4 This Treaty shall enter into force on today’s date and shall remain in force for a period of ten years. Unless twelve months before the expiry of the said period of ten years either Contracting Party shall have given notice to the other of its intention to terminate the Treaty, this Treaty shall remain in force thereafter until the expiry of twelve months from the date on which notice of such intention is given.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned have signed this Treaty.
DONE in duplicate at Dubai the second day of December 1971AD, corresponding to the fifteenth day of Shawwal 1391H, in the English and Arabic languages, both texts being equally authoritative.
Signed
Geoffrey Arthur Sheikh Zayed
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