Rights group applauds NYUAD

NYU's Coalition for Fair Labor teamed up with Human Rights Watch yesterday in Furman Hall to hold a panel on safe working conditions for migrant workers.

Last Wednesday, NYU announced it will require all companies involved in the construction of the NYU Abu Dhabi campus on Saadiyat Island to comply with human rights and fair working conditions.

The university mandated rules regarding workers' wages and hours and required all employers to provide additional benefits for their workers.

"NYU and our partners are committed to monitoring and enforcing compliance with these requirements, and that process will be in place prior to the start of construction work on the Saadiyat campus, which is scheduled to begin later this year," NYUAD spokesman Josh Taylor said.

Andrew Ross, chair of the NYU chapter of the American Association of University Professors, spoke on the panel and applauded the university for significantly improving working conditions in the Middle East.

But Ross expressed concern about the university's enforcement of its mandated policies. As NYU is not responsible for the infrastructure of the Abu Dhabi campus, their authority is of concern to the panelists.

Wayne Outten, founding and managing partner of the law firm Outten & Golden, also felt execution would be an issue.

"The real issue now is not only to enhance the scope of the rights that have been and are being created, but to come up with strong, effective, creative enforcement mechanisms, because otherwise they're just words on paper and they don't translate into real change for the workers on the ground," Outten said.

Representing the Human Rights Watch was Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of the Middle East division.

While Whitson commended NYU for certain guarantees, she criticized the university for not providing other rights, such as collective bargaining or minimum wages. She said such guarantees would be complied with if there was a third-party monitoring system to oversee laborers.

"As a policy, we do not discuss the commercial terms of this project," Taylor said.

The panelists also agreed that NYU has a responsibility to enforce and set precedence with other institutions.

According to Smita Narula, the faculty director for the center of Human Rights and Global Justice at NYU School of Law, studies show that private actors and businesses have a great influence on human rights all over the world.

"The broader message and the broader advocacy and academic work has really been to create a common set of global business standards," Narula said.

All panelists agreed the appropriate action for all parties would be to continue to apply pressure on NYU to enforce labor rights.

"No one, professors or students, should be expected to teach or study in a classroom that has been built on the backs of abused workers," Ross said.

Prerana Swami is a deputy university editor.