Today is "Help-Ourselves-Day"...

In a control room conversation with a Kuwaiti engineer,
we found out that the Bangladeshi workers are on strike in Kuwait...
no wonder the pantry room looks a mess today!
protests in Kuwait City started couple of days ago...
just today, workers in EQUATE went on strike...
WHY? The workers are not being compensated as per their contracts!!
They are mostly cleaning workers, maids tea boys...etc.
Their pay is no more than 20KD a month
and yet the company deducts more for additional fees!
No wonder they are on strike!
Check out the news articles...
http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=MjU1NTEwODkz
http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=46854

I've seen the 'camps' where local contracting company house their workers...
mostly TCNs of course -- Third Country Nationals...
It's difficult to imagine that they are actually earning a better living here than their home countries!

Most of the cleaning & tea boy staff at EQUATE are Bangladeshi and Indian..
pantry room is a mess,
water bottles in the fridge not stocked,
bathrooms not cleaned or stocked with toilet paper,
all trash bins are overfilled...
Kuwaitis seem so lost without them...

So, today is "Help-Ourselves-Day"!
A reality check for the very privileged locals...
It is okay to clean up your own mess,
make your own drinks,
and do chores that everybody else in the world does!!