n a car park just beneath Du-
I
bai’s Burj Al Arab hotel, where
the presidential suite can be
hired for Dhs55,000 a night, a
The
group of workers gather eve-
ry weekday morning. They meet at
ddeliverelivery
2.30am, after a long drive from neigh-
bouring emirate Ajman, to pick up
stacks of the 7DAYS free newspaper,
which they will spend the rest of the
morning delivering.
Meet the people at the coalface
of the media industry. As countless mmenen
CEOs, creative directors and agency
bosses stumble into bed after an-
other dinner at the Buddha Bar, a area, delivering the paper to around
1.30am alarm call goes off in Ajman, 550 villas. He claims to “love the job”.
and the 7DAYS delivery staff prepare Kumar’s colleague Tabraz Khan, a 26
for work. year old from Bangalore in India, says
There are 65 distributors—with pay that he was prompted to move to the
starting at Dhs800 a month, includ- UAE due to lack of money at home. It is
ing accommodation but not food— a familiar story: “I had a problem with
who hike the streets of Dubai and
Abu Dhabi to deliver 62,000 copies of
I had a problem with
the newspaper. Some are delivered
my family in India.
Sukhwinder Kumar, delivery man
by van to 7DAYS-branded bins; many
more are delivered by hand to villas
Here I like working,
in Dubai’s most upmarket areas, such
it’s a good salary.
UAE seem to be motivated by some- workers share a room.
as Jumeirah, Umm Sequim and Emir- thing else. Tikuye says the majority of distribu-
ates Hills. my family in India. Here I like working, “I [heard] something about how tors do the job to support their fami-
The distributors, who walk the it’s a good salary,” says Khan. Dubai and the UAE were good for jobs lies back home; if a particular member
streets on foot, are dropped off by van The men are supervised by Naseer and learning. Dubai gave me so many of staff performs well, he is given the
by one of 12 supervisors, who then Ahmad, who drives a 7DAYS-branded changes. [There’s] a good working chance to offer jobs to his relatives at
drive around monitoring their work. van around his designated area. Ah- schedule and management. It’s for home. For, despite what seems like
Their shifts—which run from Sunday mad used to work at a printing press my good future, and good organisa- low pay, there are many men looking
to Thursday—typically finish some- in his native Pakistan; he says that his tion, and good learning,” he says. for an opportunity to join the ranks at
time between 9am and 11.30am. mother and sisters are proud of him the foot of the Burj Al Arab.
because, by working in the same in-
S
ukhwinder Kumar, a 22 year dustry in Dubai, there is some conti-
old from Punjab in India, has nuity in his career. Ahmad does not O
verseeing the whole process
is operations manager Belay
Tikuye, who is 48 years old
PROFILE
been delivering 7DAYS for five mention money when he talks about and from Ethiopia, and has been in
Sukhwinder Kumar
months. He walks the Jumeirah Three his job—his reasons for moving to the the UAE for 13 years. Tikuye previ-
TITLE: Distributor
ously worked at Blue Truck, which
NATIONALITY: Punjab, India
distributed 7DAYS before the news-
AGE: 22
paper brought operations in-house,
PAY: Distributor salaries generally
at which time he took up a job there.
range from Dhs800 to Dhs1,000 a
Tikuye’s job involves supervising
the daily distribution, planning and
month, although some are paid up to
monitoring of 7DAYS, checking that
Dhs1,400. This includes accommoda-
the newspaper is being delivered cor-
tion and a flight home every two years
rectly and on time (a distributor’s pay
can be docked if they are found to Naseer Ahmad
have repeatedly missed deliveries).
TITLE: Distribution supervisor
“When I see all the papers on the
NATIONALITY: Karachi, Pakistan
doors, it’s very satisfying for me. We
AGE: 31
don’t mind about the hours. It’s a
PAY: Supervisor salaries are around
good time to work for us: there’s no
Dhs4,000, according to the company.
traffic,” he says, adding that he “could
This includes accommodation and a
draw a map of Dubai”, given that he
knows the streets so well.
flight home every year
Despite being paid much more
than the distributors, Tikuye says that
it’s tough to save money due to the HAVE YOUR SAY
high cost of living. But he does live To comment on this article, or to
in his own home; in the Ajman ac- nominate the ‘unsung heroes’ in your
Naseer Ahmad,
distribution supervisor
commodation for the lower-ranking own business, email ben.flanagan@
distributors, between five and eight engworldwide.com.
10 MAY 2009 / 13
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