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| Firm Led by Ex-Prosecutor Will Investigate Labor Conditions at N.Y.U.’s Abu Dhabi Site | Firm Led by Ex-Prosecutor Will Investigate Labor Conditions at N.Y.U.’s Abu Dhabi Site |
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| New York University and the government of Abu Dhabi said this week that an investigative firm headed by a former federal prosecutor had been hired to conduct an inquiry into labor conditions at the university’s new Middle East campus. | New York University and the government of Abu Dhabi said this week that an investigative firm headed by a former federal prosecutor had been hired to conduct an inquiry into labor conditions at the university’s new Middle East campus. |
| The move comes a month after The New York Times reported on widespread labor abuses in the construction of N.Y.U. Abu Dhabi, which opens to students in the fall. The firm, Nardello & Company, which has offices around the world, will “conduct an independent review of allegations of labor violations,” N.Y.U. announced on Wednesday, “with a focus on those recently reported in the media.” | The move comes a month after The New York Times reported on widespread labor abuses in the construction of N.Y.U. Abu Dhabi, which opens to students in the fall. The firm, Nardello & Company, which has offices around the world, will “conduct an independent review of allegations of labor violations,” N.Y.U. announced on Wednesday, “with a focus on those recently reported in the media.” |
| Daniel Nardello, the company’s founder, will lead the inquiry. In an interview, he said that he had not yet settled on any methodology, but that his team would include staff members from London and Dubai who had expertise in the region. “I assume that I will have wide access to speak to the people I need to speak to,” Mr. Nardello said. | Daniel Nardello, the company’s founder, will lead the inquiry. In an interview, he said that he had not yet settled on any methodology, but that his team would include staff members from London and Dubai who had expertise in the region. “I assume that I will have wide access to speak to the people I need to speak to,” Mr. Nardello said. |
| In promotional materials, Mr. Nardello’s firm says it specializes in helping “law firms, financial institutions, corporations and high-net-worth individuals” find “information that lies below the surface,” particularly in matters like compliance with anticorruption laws, the location of missing assets and the gathering of strategic intelligence. | In promotional materials, Mr. Nardello’s firm says it specializes in helping “law firms, financial institutions, corporations and high-net-worth individuals” find “information that lies below the surface,” particularly in matters like compliance with anticorruption laws, the location of missing assets and the gathering of strategic intelligence. |
| The firm’s website features a case study in which “a leading European company was concerned by poor construction standards and working conditions at the site of its project in an Arabian Gulf state.” The firm, the website continues, “helped our client approach a powerful royal who interceded successfully” The firm also emphasizes discretion, promoting itself as “your best kept secret.” | |
| Nardello & Company was selected by Tamkeen, the government entity that oversaw construction of N.Y.U. Abu Dhabi. Mr. Nardello declined to comment on any details of the investigative process, including whether Tamkeen officials would be briefed about the investigation along the way. But Mr. Nardello, a former federal prosecutor in New York and a graduate of N.Y.U. Law School, emphasized that the investigation would unfold on its own terms. | Nardello & Company was selected by Tamkeen, the government entity that oversaw construction of N.Y.U. Abu Dhabi. Mr. Nardello declined to comment on any details of the investigative process, including whether Tamkeen officials would be briefed about the investigation along the way. But Mr. Nardello, a former federal prosecutor in New York and a graduate of N.Y.U. Law School, emphasized that the investigation would unfold on its own terms. |
| “My mandate is to do it independently and to do it thoroughly,” he said. | “My mandate is to do it independently and to do it thoroughly,” he said. |
| When N.Y.U. began planning its 21-building campus, it announced a number of safeguards to protect the rights of the thousands of South Asian construction workers who were brought to Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, by local construction firms. Its Statement of Labor Values promised fair wages, reasonable hours, decent accommodations, the right of every worker to hold onto his own passport and the right to object when those promises were not met. An outside firm was hired to monitor compliance with those values, and it published a series of positive annual reports. | When N.Y.U. began planning its 21-building campus, it announced a number of safeguards to protect the rights of the thousands of South Asian construction workers who were brought to Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, by local construction firms. Its Statement of Labor Values promised fair wages, reasonable hours, decent accommodations, the right of every worker to hold onto his own passport and the right to object when those promises were not met. An outside firm was hired to monitor compliance with those values, and it published a series of positive annual reports. |
| But in May, an investigation by The Times found that almost all workers had been charged steep recruitment fees (usually of about a year’s wages) to get their jobs, that few were being paid what they had been promised, that some lived in miserable conditions and that a group of workers who went on a two-day strike were arrested, jailed, beaten and deported. | But in May, an investigation by The Times found that almost all workers had been charged steep recruitment fees (usually of about a year’s wages) to get their jobs, that few were being paid what they had been promised, that some lived in miserable conditions and that a group of workers who went on a two-day strike were arrested, jailed, beaten and deported. |
| After the publication of that report, N.Y.U. apologized to workers who had been mistreated and “committed to investigating vigorously the issues The Times has raised and reporting the findings transparently.” | After the publication of that report, N.Y.U. apologized to workers who had been mistreated and “committed to investigating vigorously the issues The Times has raised and reporting the findings transparently.” |
| A full accounting of how the men who built N.Y.U. Abu Dhabi were treated faces considerable challenges. At its peak, 6,000 laborers were working on the project, but the total number was much higher, since many laborers cycled through and on to other construction sites. Since the campus was completed in the spring, all of those men have moved on — to different projects in the country or region, or back home to villages and cities in South Asia. As for the construction companies that employed them, they have continuing contracts in Abu Dhabi, an absolute monarchy with little tradition of labor rights. | A full accounting of how the men who built N.Y.U. Abu Dhabi were treated faces considerable challenges. At its peak, 6,000 laborers were working on the project, but the total number was much higher, since many laborers cycled through and on to other construction sites. Since the campus was completed in the spring, all of those men have moved on — to different projects in the country or region, or back home to villages and cities in South Asia. As for the construction companies that employed them, they have continuing contracts in Abu Dhabi, an absolute monarchy with little tradition of labor rights. |
| Mr. Nardello declined to set a precise date for the investigation’s end; he said his intention was to finish by year’s end. | Mr. Nardello declined to set a precise date for the investigation’s end; he said his intention was to finish by year’s end. |
| Kristina Bogos, a senior who studied in Abu Dhabi and is a member of the Coalition for Fair Labor at N.Y.U., said she was “very interested in seeing the results of this investigation,” but cautioned that fact-finding should be only one step in a longer process. | Kristina Bogos, a senior who studied in Abu Dhabi and is a member of the Coalition for Fair Labor at N.Y.U., said she was “very interested in seeing the results of this investigation,” but cautioned that fact-finding should be only one step in a longer process. |
| “N.Y.U. has a responsibility to use its resources to be proactive about human rights and fair labor standards,” she said, including reforming the foreign labor system of the Emirates. | “N.Y.U. has a responsibility to use its resources to be proactive about human rights and fair labor standards,” she said, including reforming the foreign labor system of the Emirates. |