The Washington Post reports two American civilian contractors who worked on a massive U.S. Embassy construction project in Baghdad told Congress yesterday that foreign laborers were deceptively recruited and trafficked to Iraq to toil at the site, where they experienced physical abuse and substandard working conditions.
The Congressional hearing concerned the construction of the US embassy in Baghdad.
Among those testifying was John Owens, who worked on the site as a security liaison from November 2005 to June 2006, said he'd seen foreign workers packed in trailers and working 12 hours a day, seven days a week, with time off Fridays for Muslim prayers. Several told him they earned about $300 a month, after fees were taken out, and that they were docked three days' pay for such offenses as clocking in five minutes late.
Testimony also came from Rory Mayberry, who said he'd been a medic on the site for five days, said First Kuwaiti had asked him to escort 51 Filipino men from Kuwait to Baghdad but not to tell them where they were going. Their tickets showed that they were flying to Dubai, Mayberry said. They screamed protests when they discovered on the flight that they were headed to Baghdad, he said.
This is just the tip of the iceberg and Congress shouldn't act surprised to hear about these abuses..
In 2005, journalist David Phinney (author of the article below) reported in CorpWatch that KBR, a division of Halliburton at the time, was importing thousands of cheap labor from impoverished south Asian countries such as Pakistan, Philippines, Nepal, Sri Lanka and India using “subcontractor” labor providers. These labor providers, based in the Middle East, such as First Kuwaiti and Prime Projects International, would also subcontract to “recruiters” in those countries thus creating many layers making it difficult, if not impossible, for the Pentagon to track the labor and billings that would flow up to KBR and then to the Army.
While American workers received $80,000 to $100,000 a year working for KBR in Iraq, these Third Country Nationals, known as TCNs, were only earning between $200 and $1000 a month doing much of the same work. Along with that, reports by former KBR employees and some soldiers, have disclosed these TCNs were working under terrible conditions – frequently sleeping in crowded trailers, waiting outside in line in 100 degree heat to eat “slop” while their American counterparts were sleeping in more comfortable housing and dining at the military dining facility. Reports from former employees have also disclosed that KBR is increasingly relying on TCNs apparently with the goal of comprising at least 80% of their labor force.
Not much has changed.
The following bit of reporting is from the blog Iraq Slogger.
Despite Crackdown, Labor Abuses Persist
By DAVID PHINNEY
Despite US measures designed to halt labor abuses perpetrated by contractors working on US-funded projects in Iraq, anecdotal evidence indicates serious problems persist.
American civilian sources working at military camps report low-wage contracted laborers having limited access to medical care, crowded and decrepit living quarters, and questionable food. Some were reportedly tricked into working in Iraq, and accounts of contractors holding employees' passports continue, despite an April 2006 order from the US military specifically barring the practices.
“These issues are commonly known and there has been nothing done about this,” said one American contractor in a string of emails earlier this month from Camp Diamondback. He said he had been speaking with Sri Lankans who were recruited with the understanding they would be working in Kuwait.
According to the contractor, they were informed they would be going to Iraq after arriving in Dubai during transit. “The two men I speak with most often arrived in Mosul in late March,” wrote the contractor. “They were to make 2 to 3 times their normal salary. Thus far, they've not been paid and have only received an advance of $50.”
The contractor also sent photos of bathrooms, reporting that the only running water was on the floor. Old toilets are discarded outside the workers' living quarters, he said, where they sleep ten to a room on thin mattresses.
One worker suffering from diarrhea and vomiting was reportedly told the condition couldn’t be too severe since the employee had worked all day before reporting it. The doctor told the worker to “deal with it or go back” to Sri Lanka. “I asked one if he had any paperwork and he had none,” the contractor said.
Describing a photograph of the typical meal of mostly rice with a side of slop served to low-wage contract workers, the contractor commented: “This picture is of their food today. This is apparently a good day (with) double the usual meat portions.... The days are hit-and-miss whether they get vegetables.”
Another American contractor familiar with working conditions prior to the 2006 contractor order said in an email last week that “the treatment is still pretty much the same” at a large camp outside Baghdad. He said that 6,000 workers have no dentist and must travel to Kuwait for treatment.
“I know all of this because I had a laborer with bad pain in two teeth last week and the medic was giving him ‘tablets’ which were totally ineffective in alleviating this poor guy's pain. They are given the option of taking off work and flying to Kuwait for treatment at their own expense.”
The contractor said that “incoming laborers are still paying agency fees, and though they now carry their passports and a copy of their contract, all that did was create an additional task for us with no improvement.”
Even having passports returned can be a problem, said one Pakistani worker near Fallujah during a telephone conversation several weeks ago. He complained that while passports had been returned, the front pages had been ripped out.
But having part of a passport may be better than none at all. An American contractor at Camp Stryker said in an email last March that dozens of Indian workers found employment conditions with a Saudi subcontractor so bad that:
"They are running away at night from their camps here at Stryker and jumping the wire.... I am concerned for them because they are running and have no where to go..... The embassy is in the Green zone ten miles away.... and you have to go in the red zone to get to there from here."
The source said that Americans brought the Indian laborers back to the camp and that none of the low-paid workers had identification or passports. A manager with the Saudi contractors had taken the documents away before they fled the camp, the source was told. The Indian workers said they were quitting their jobs because they were being beaten. One reported he had been handcuffed to a post for hours.
Each of these anecdotes come from single sources, but the accounts of labor conditions closely track common complaints previously reported.
The Saudi contractor did not reply to email inquiries or phone calls requesting an interview. The US Army referred the inquiry to a spokesperson at KBR, which holds the prime contract with the Army for maintenance and dining at Camp Stryker. The spokesperson said the incident was untrue:
KBR has determined the information you have to be incorrect and does not involve KBR or its subcontractor. However, we can assure you that KBR does not condone and will not tolerate any practice that unlawfully compels subcontractor employees to deploy, perform work or remain in a place against their will.
The KBR spokesperson did not respond to a request for a contact with the Saudi subcontractor.
The Congressional hearing concerned the construction of the US embassy in Baghdad.
Among those testifying was John Owens, who worked on the site as a security liaison from November 2005 to June 2006, said he'd seen foreign workers packed in trailers and working 12 hours a day, seven days a week, with time off Fridays for Muslim prayers. Several told him they earned about $300 a month, after fees were taken out, and that they were docked three days' pay for such offenses as clocking in five minutes late.
Testimony also came from Rory Mayberry, who said he'd been a medic on the site for five days, said First Kuwaiti had asked him to escort 51 Filipino men from Kuwait to Baghdad but not to tell them where they were going. Their tickets showed that they were flying to Dubai, Mayberry said. They screamed protests when they discovered on the flight that they were headed to Baghdad, he said.
This is just the tip of the iceberg and Congress shouldn't act surprised to hear about these abuses..
In 2005, journalist David Phinney (author of the article below) reported in CorpWatch that KBR, a division of Halliburton at the time, was importing thousands of cheap labor from impoverished south Asian countries such as Pakistan, Philippines, Nepal, Sri Lanka and India using “subcontractor” labor providers. These labor providers, based in the Middle East, such as First Kuwaiti and Prime Projects International, would also subcontract to “recruiters” in those countries thus creating many layers making it difficult, if not impossible, for the Pentagon to track the labor and billings that would flow up to KBR and then to the Army.
While American workers received $80,000 to $100,000 a year working for KBR in Iraq, these Third Country Nationals, known as TCNs, were only earning between $200 and $1000 a month doing much of the same work. Along with that, reports by former KBR employees and some soldiers, have disclosed these TCNs were working under terrible conditions – frequently sleeping in crowded trailers, waiting outside in line in 100 degree heat to eat “slop” while their American counterparts were sleeping in more comfortable housing and dining at the military dining facility. Reports from former employees have also disclosed that KBR is increasingly relying on TCNs apparently with the goal of comprising at least 80% of their labor force.
Not much has changed.
The following bit of reporting is from the blog Iraq Slogger.
Despite Crackdown, Labor Abuses Persist
By DAVID PHINNEY
Despite US measures designed to halt labor abuses perpetrated by contractors working on US-funded projects in Iraq, anecdotal evidence indicates serious problems persist.
American civilian sources working at military camps report low-wage contracted laborers having limited access to medical care, crowded and decrepit living quarters, and questionable food. Some were reportedly tricked into working in Iraq, and accounts of contractors holding employees' passports continue, despite an April 2006 order from the US military specifically barring the practices.
“These issues are commonly known and there has been nothing done about this,” said one American contractor in a string of emails earlier this month from Camp Diamondback. He said he had been speaking with Sri Lankans who were recruited with the understanding they would be working in Kuwait.
According to the contractor, they were informed they would be going to Iraq after arriving in Dubai during transit. “The two men I speak with most often arrived in Mosul in late March,” wrote the contractor. “They were to make 2 to 3 times their normal salary. Thus far, they've not been paid and have only received an advance of $50.”
The contractor also sent photos of bathrooms, reporting that the only running water was on the floor. Old toilets are discarded outside the workers' living quarters, he said, where they sleep ten to a room on thin mattresses.
One worker suffering from diarrhea and vomiting was reportedly told the condition couldn’t be too severe since the employee had worked all day before reporting it. The doctor told the worker to “deal with it or go back” to Sri Lanka. “I asked one if he had any paperwork and he had none,” the contractor said.
Describing a photograph of the typical meal of mostly rice with a side of slop served to low-wage contract workers, the contractor commented: “This picture is of their food today. This is apparently a good day (with) double the usual meat portions.... The days are hit-and-miss whether they get vegetables.”
Another American contractor familiar with working conditions prior to the 2006 contractor order said in an email last week that “the treatment is still pretty much the same” at a large camp outside Baghdad. He said that 6,000 workers have no dentist and must travel to Kuwait for treatment.
“I know all of this because I had a laborer with bad pain in two teeth last week and the medic was giving him ‘tablets’ which were totally ineffective in alleviating this poor guy's pain. They are given the option of taking off work and flying to Kuwait for treatment at their own expense.”
The contractor said that “incoming laborers are still paying agency fees, and though they now carry their passports and a copy of their contract, all that did was create an additional task for us with no improvement.”
Even having passports returned can be a problem, said one Pakistani worker near Fallujah during a telephone conversation several weeks ago. He complained that while passports had been returned, the front pages had been ripped out.
But having part of a passport may be better than none at all. An American contractor at Camp Stryker said in an email last March that dozens of Indian workers found employment conditions with a Saudi subcontractor so bad that:
"They are running away at night from their camps here at Stryker and jumping the wire.... I am concerned for them because they are running and have no where to go..... The embassy is in the Green zone ten miles away.... and you have to go in the red zone to get to there from here."
The source said that Americans brought the Indian laborers back to the camp and that none of the low-paid workers had identification or passports. A manager with the Saudi contractors had taken the documents away before they fled the camp, the source was told. The Indian workers said they were quitting their jobs because they were being beaten. One reported he had been handcuffed to a post for hours.
Each of these anecdotes come from single sources, but the accounts of labor conditions closely track common complaints previously reported.
The Saudi contractor did not reply to email inquiries or phone calls requesting an interview. The US Army referred the inquiry to a spokesperson at KBR, which holds the prime contract with the Army for maintenance and dining at Camp Stryker. The spokesperson said the incident was untrue:
KBR has determined the information you have to be incorrect and does not involve KBR or its subcontractor. However, we can assure you that KBR does not condone and will not tolerate any practice that unlawfully compels subcontractor employees to deploy, perform work or remain in a place against their will.
The KBR spokesperson did not respond to a request for a contact with the Saudi subcontractor.
is this the same rory mayberry who was with halliburton? that guy is full of it. he came to my friend's company wanting claiming he was amedic and when they ran a background - it turned out to be totalBS. he doesn't have a license and even has a criminal record in the state of oregon and califonia. my friend said this rory guy was totally messed up and looked like he was hitting the med kit pretty hard. in one place in oregon he was cremating people and they found fingers in the ashes! they shut the whole place down and took him to court. check the records in oregon you'll see it all there. i guarantee it. you know how those liberal oreganos are, the whole place is weird. he seems to go from company to company over there which all seem to be doing wrong? hmmmmm suspicous if you ask me. maybe he does it for money or drugs - he's no medic what a crock. something is not right. tequilaman you tracking this?
ReplyDeleteI have no idea. Your comments though intrigue me, too. I have to check it out. Presuming your history of this guy to be the accurate and presuming he is the same guy, it's all pretty strange.
ReplyDeleteI would add though that it would be nice if you provided some specific sources for your information beyond your friend. Like maybe some of the records in Oregon or whatever. That would be helpful.
ReplyDelete