AJC.com > Iraq coverage > Blog > Archives > 2005 > November > 06 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USWorkers from poor countries serve the 48th
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Baghdad, Iraq — For tens of thousands of workers from poor countries in Asia, the war in Iraq has been a magnet for money. Lured by the chance to make a fast buck, men, mostly in their 20s and 30s, have left the familiarity of their homelands to tough it out in the sands of Iraq.
They form a silent army of low-wage workers without which U.S. military bases in Iraq would come to a standstill. But life is vastly different for the Asian workers, known in military parlance as Third Country Nationals, than it is for the soldiers or American contractors they serve.
The Asians toil long hours for low wages and endure living conditions that have prompted some of their respective nations to address what they call human rights violations.
Louie Favorite/AJC
Sanjay Sharma of Nepal works in the dining hall at Camp Striker. Conditions and pay for foreign workers have been criticized by some of their countries.
At Camp Striker, which housed a majority of the Georgia Army National Guard’s 48th Brigade Combat Team, teams of Asian men clean the latrines and showers, fix electrical problems, cook the food in the chow hall and run the laundry, recreation facility and the local PX.
Importing workers
Most are employed by military contractor Kellogg Brown & Root, a Houston-based subsidiary of Halliburton Corp., and its various subcontractors.
Even though thousands of Iraqis are jobless, the U.S. military frowns on employing them on bases for fear of insurgent infiltration. Instead, companies with military contracts ship in Asian men, mostly from the Indian subcontinent, Thailand and the Philippines, to work on the bases at a fraction of the wages U.S. employees would ask.
In an area of Camp Striker called Mayberry, the scent of sandalwood wafted from a series of congested trailers. Outside one of the trailers, racks of well-worn shoes and grimy sandals lined the doorway. Inside, a dozen men fell to their knees in prayer in front of a shrine to Ganesh, the Hindu elephant-headed god of success.
It was success that Ganesh Sharkar — named after the very god to whom he was praying — was seeking when he decided to join 3 million other Indians already working in the Middle East.
The son of a poor farmer from the eastern Indian district of Nadia, Sharkar made his way to the Middle East through a labor recruiting agency in Mumbai. He had no idea he would end up in a war zone.
He was taken first to Oman, then to Dubai, where, he said, he was finally told that the job that awaited him was really in Iraq. By then, he had signed a contract and had no choice but to accept — he had given his life savings to the agents who sent him overseas.
“They didn’t tell me the job was here. But what are beggars to do?” said Sharkar, 30, speaking in his native Bengali. “All of us have the same dream. Money.”
‘What can I do?’
The workers said they make between $550 and $1,000 a month, depending on the job. Sharkar draws $650 a month after eight months in Iraq. He spends 12 hours a day fixing electrical problems in tents and trailers. Though that’s an attractive salary for rural India, Sharkar has barely made enough to pay off what he owed the recruiting agency — more than $2,000 — and make sure his extended family at home is sufficiently supported. In August, he said his employer, KBR subcontractor Prime Projects International, was several months behind on a paycheck.
Sharkar, like other workers at Striker, said he is allowed to take only one day off a month. When he does, it is without pay.
He shares a cramped trailer with a dozen other men in Mayberry, an enclave reserved for KBR and PPI employees. Some have had their passports confiscated, though Sharkar managed to hold on to his. He cannot eat at the same dining facility as the soldiers — his food is shipped in from Camp Victory and is often cold and tasteless.
Sharkar is not allowed to use the Internet trailer, the phone center or the recreation facility. He has little contact with home.
Louie Favorite/AJC
Amit Kumar of Nepal serves lunch to Sgt. Charles Cloud of Lithia Springs in the dining hall at Camp Striker.
He has no medical insurance and often begs workers with contacts in Baghdad to buy him medicine he needs. He has no body armor or helmet, even though military bases regularly come under attack.
“I don’t like it here, but what can I do?” Sharkar said.
Indian newspapers have written repeatedly of alleged abuse of their workers in Iraq with such headlines as “U.S. slave camps.”
CorpWatch, a globalization watchdog group based in San Francisco, claims on its Web site that TCNs in Iraq are mistreated and make extremely low wages compared to American employees of Halliburton and KBR, who often top $100,000 a year.
Recommended wage scale
KBR supervisors at Striker would not comment on the Asians. They referred questions to Nikki Wheeler, a company spokeswoman in Iraq, who said via e-mail that the company employs 40,000 people from 30 nations to support U.S. and coalition forces. She said KBR could would not discuss salaries or working conditions.
“It would be inappropriate to discuss the ‘average salary paid’ because as with any company, an employee’s rate of pay is commensurate with their experience and the value they bring to the position,” Wheeler wrote in her e-mail.
“Our compensation packages and the compensation packages provided by our subcontractors are based on a wage scale that was recommended by the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, and are competitive. Additionally, KBR’s subcontractors are required to comply with all local labor laws and provisions and must be competitive in order to recruit and retain qualified personnel.”
Wheeler added that KBR does employ Iraqis at a number of project sites and “strives to maximize local participation whenever possible. It merits mentioning,” she said, “that in some cases the military restricts our ability to bring Iraqis on to some sites.”
In May, Filipino employees went on strike against PPI and KBR at Camp Taji to protest poor working conditions and low wages. The Manila Times reported that the dispute was eventually settled with the intervention of Filipino diplomats.
The Philippines, India and Nepal have officially barred their citizens from seeking jobs in Iraq because of the danger.
Still, poor people keep coming to Iraq with a dream of striking it rich.
Money a big lure
Roderick Osbual, 23, left the rice paddies of Lusan, Philippines, behind so he would not have to be a farmer like his father. He quit college, where he was getting a degree in education to become a schoolteacher, and instead sought out a labor recruiting agent who sent him to Iraq.
He has been at Camp Striker since June 2004. After a variety of jobs, Osbual landed behind the counter at the laundry, where he always greets soldiers with a smile. PPI pays him $700 a month. When he takes a day off, he forfeits pay.
“That’s OK with me,” he said. “I need my rest.”
Osbual said he doesn’t like the way Asian workers are treated by contractors or the soldiers.
“I don’t like the term TCN. It’s degrading,” he said. “The Americans, they look at us differently.”
In the evenings, Hindi music blares from the Indian trailer while the Filipinos watch soap operas from home. The workers live among their own countrymen since language can be a barrier.
Osbual said he will likely stay in Iraq for another year. Half his salary goes into a Filipino bank account. The rest goes to his parents and a twin brother who is struggling to pay for college.
The work is boring, but Osbual is making twice what he would in his homeland.
“It’s simply a matter of money. That’s all,” he said.
Comments
Commenting is now closed for this entry.
By Trace
November 6, 2005 11:40 PM | Link to this
I’d say it is much cheaper to live in a third world country. The day the TCN’s have to pay the high cost of living in America then we can talk. Little less Communism if you please!
By Fay
November 7, 2005 07:11 AM | Link to this
If these people are working for american companies, serving american troops ,they should be paid an american wage. So sad to read in the paper yesterday of the american truck drivers and gym worker who are making $80,000+ a year and these guys are making $9,000 to $12,000 a year. Just isn’t right but then again what is in this war?
By Ike
November 7, 2005 10:24 AM | Link to this
If Americans still think that most of the global ill will towards our * GREAT COUNTRY* is because of jealousy, need only read articles like this.
By Hal Dudley
November 7, 2005 12:53 PM | Link to this
To all who want all the TCN workers in Iraq to be paid the same wage as American workers. Think that the cost of the war is high? Pay the wages you are talking about and see the cost go up a lot. The TCNs in Iraq are much the same as the illegal workers here, they are doing jobs and for wages that Americans would not. We still demand that the job be done, but Americans would rather sit on their hands and complain. The illegal worker or the TCN is doing the job for the wage offered. Some who know everything about this should try going to Iraq and working. I would think that you would have a different outlook.
By Kyle
November 7, 2005 01:39 PM | Link to this
Human Rights is not a communist idea. A little less war profiteering if you please! THANKS HALLIBURTON.
By michelle
November 7, 2005 03:14 PM | Link to this
now i’m not a sympathizer when it comes to illegal immigration, but comparing the TCNs to the flow and likeness of illegal immigrants into america is incorrect. illegal immigrants come here looking for a better life, they aren’t sought after -there’s no labor recruiting agency. so what if they do jobs americans refuse to do, for less money? it doesn’t change the fact that it is illegal, not recruitment.
the TCNs are recruited to do jobs that american soldiers could be doing. why aren’t they, and why are they left up to american contractors to fill the positions? not all positions in the army are frontline combat, but it’s still serving the soldiers, and other soldiers should be doing it.
i mean really…if you want to compare anything, you can liken the actions of american companies at home and american contractors abroad, with respect to paying less wages for skilled labor, in order to come up big financially for themselves. american contractors like KBR et al, simply just don’t want to pay the money and instead scrimp on costs by hiring outsiders/foreigners for less money, capitalizing on their misfortunes.
don’t blame the damn workers, and yes, be happy they’re there and treat them like the humans they are!
By Paul
November 7, 2005 03:39 PM | Link to this
If the view was in percentage of wages earned in Iraq compared to home country, they would be approximately equal. I doubled my salary when I went to work in Iraq. The majority of contractors and sub-contractors working in Iraq have doubled their salary compared to the country and job that was left behind. Their are also organizations and politics in this region that can not be approached by the US contracting companies. I work with about 20 local Iraqi’s currently and they are not getting paid as much as I am in USD, but they are making more than 200% more than they made under the previous government. Many are business owners that moonlight for different companies working on the reconstruction effort.I have spent two years in Iraq. One thing I have learned is that talking about something with out first hand experience is all hot air. There is more going on than what news agencies cover. There just is not enough time, paper, ink, and web space to cover the entirity of the activiy here. I suggest that if anybody wants to know what is happening here, then get off you duff and come join me in making this country and its people a productive member of the global society while keeping their self respect.
By Eric
November 7, 2005 06:30 PM | Link to this
It is foolish to compare TCNs to American employees, as far as wages go. They agree to a certain wage and when it goes home the money will go far. Mistreatment and being taken advantage of is another issue. They should be treated with dignity and respect. This would include being paid on time, and basic safety concerns. Being paid a lower wage doesnt make one a 2nd class citizen, being treated differently does.
By double and half
November 8, 2005 08:13 AM | Link to this
Am I the only one who finds it disturbing that our government pays corporations and military both but the corporations get enough money to “double” the average salaries their workers made back home plus a profit in their pockets, the military gets enough to pay “half” the salaries that many troops earned back home. Paul, I think the majority of the people on this blog have family or friends serving in the 48th brigade. Believe me, sacrifices have been made. Don’t insult us by implying we’re full of hot air.
By Susan
November 8, 2005 10:04 AM | Link to this
The United States Military should pay all recruitment fees shouldered by these workers. If not, then bring over our own workers from the US. In WWII, wasn’t everyone involved military - from Generals to Cooks?
By Hal
November 8, 2005 03:41 PM | Link to this
First, the TCNs do not work for the US Government. They work for a contractor. Most work for a contractor to a contractor to KBR. KBR actually does very little on its own. It hires contractors.
Both the illegeal worker in the US and the TCN in Iraq are working for a better life. Figure that a TCM makes in a month what he might make in a year at home.
Are there problems with the recruiting of workers? Sure. But no less that the brokers who assist illegeals across the Southern US border.
I would think that the TCNs in Iraq are treated no better or worse that those in other Arab countries, or Europe. France today is a good example of TCNs when are not getting the best treatment.
I do agree that you need to have been there to really know anything about what is going on in Iraq today. What you see on the news is only a very small portion of the day to day activities going on.
Hal
THere are a lot of things that soldiers do not do today. Not doing those jobs puts more soldiers with guns doing what they need to be doing.