The booming construction sector sheltered some of the people who had lost their jobs in
small businesses. But the dedicated Syrian workers, mainly day laborers, never obtained
their most basic rights: They worked without benefits or unions, without monetary or legal
protection, without regulations or safety procedures.
Many of these workers were employed in construction building sanitary apartments that they, ironically,
would never be able to afford. In the evenings they back to their own slapdash houses, the homes they
had built in their “leisure time” during weekends and official holidays, without running water or septic
systems.
