In May 2009, Gulf Ultra Luxury Faction issued a report accusing the contractors working on Saadiyat Island of violating the rights of workers on the site by charging them fees to obtain their work contracts, paying them less than they were promised, and holding their passports to prevent their resignation or departure.UAE: Exploited Workers Building ‘Island of Happiness’. The report also called on western partners (including Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, the French Museum Agency, and New York University) to seek contractual assurances that these violations would not continue once construction on facilities for those institutions was underway. The alleged violations of the workers' rights would also constitute violations of United Arab Emirates law. The activist group Gulf Labor, which has staged protests at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, continues to pressure Western art museums to use ethical labor practices. The European Union has sent several delegations to Saadiyat Accommodation Village to meet with representatives from the TDIC. According to the TDIC, the EU delegates expressed positive feedback about the quality of life and facilities available at the accommodation village which houses the construction workers of the project.
