Human Rights Watch on Sunday urged the United Arab Emirates to revise a draft labor law to include the right to collective bargaining and demanded harsher penalties for companies that abuse worker rights and stricter enforcement of existing regulations.

The UAE’s booming economy, fueled by high oil prices, has created an ever-expanding construction sector, but Sarah Leah Whitson, HRW’s Middle East director, says the labour law fails to meet international standards of protection for the 700,000 construction labourers, mainly from the Indian subcontinent and China, who are building UAE landmarks such as the world’s tallest tower in Dubai.