Dubai: A group of workers at a Dubai-based construction company have said they have been terminated from work because they stopped work last week to protest against their extremely low salaries.

The workers said the company was paying them between Dh350 and Dh550 and they could barely survive on this money.

“We came to work here and we have families to support and our salaries are very low,” said a worker.

The workers also claimed the company had not paid their salaries for almost three months and that they lived in appalling conditions at labour accommodation in Dubai Investment Park (DIP).

Another worker said the workers who protested last week would be sent back home.

The workers who are employed by the Sobha Group also said the food offered to them at their accommodation was poor.

A spokesman from the Sobha Group told Gulf News on Monday that the main issue was that the workers were asking for a salary increment which the company could not afford.

“The salaries are Dh350 and can reach Dh900 depending on the skills of the worker,” he said.

He said this was the salary paid for workers in the market.

“Workers are paid salaries by all companies in the market similar to what our company is paying,” he said.

He added that it was not a boom time and no one paid high salaries.

“We did not have any protest in the company but there are around 20 to 25 workers who stop working, asking for a salary increase which we will not be able to do.”

He added the construction industry was not flourishing at the moment.

 Refuting claims by workers, he added that the company’s labour accommodation was one of the best in the emirate.

“We are following Dubai municipality instructions regarding offering the best hygienic accommodation for our workers,” he said.

He also said that there were no pending salaries.

“We pay our workers on time as we used the WPS [Wages Protection System] and workers take their salaries on time and one can check with the Ministry of Labour in this regard,” he said.

He added there are some workers who said they want to go back to their home countries and that they do not want to work.

“Termination is a normal process in any company and people can be fired for many reasons, including disciplinary reasons,” he said.

He added that those who want to work can and those workers who want to go back to their home country can do so.