OriginalSunshine

Who cleans for you? An agency girl? How much of the money you pay does she get?

How much does she owe her handler back home? Her board and lodgings here?

scrubbedexpat141

We had the maids in yesterday actually and didn't get an invoice so hopefully they pocketed the lot and the tips.

Irishbeekeeper

the tips they keep and split but the amount total never goes to them, they get small commission at the end of the month from the total number of hours worked..IF the employer is a decent enough person, otherwise he can just tell them to Foxtrot Oscar and there isnt much they can do about it. I think the reason they cant give an invoice is a. they are not allowed to handle an empty invoice book, as an employer I wouldn't be comfortable with that either b. their daily routine is very fluid, sometimes an hours commitment can change to two, sometimes someone will confirm but then wont be home so thats a cancellation, sometimes one would join another one at another location and a two hour job can be finished in an hour. So difficult to give them pre-printed invoices I guess.

scrubbedexpat141

We always get an invoice but they sent three maids instead of two because they were running late, so guess it got lost or forgotten. They also always normally bring a register (with my name at the top) and they have their names written for each time they come and they INSIST every time I comment on their work. I think i've written Excellent every single time.

I've used some maid companies in the past who are utterly useless and clearly don't get looked after but this lot are genuinely excellent, really nice and friendly and always relaxed, like work isn't the worst thing in the world.

I might be wrong. But the Maid example is just weak anyway. What about the petrol pump guy? What about the worker in Maccy-Ds? What about the labourer? What about what about what about

Millhouse

It's a fine line.

My friend has a maid in Pakistan. He pays her a salary, she does not work for food.

Can she work elsewhere? Most certainly not. She was gifted through a land sale a couple of generations ago where the selling family would gift a daughter to the new owner. She has since had a daughter - my friend has seen his new maid born.

scrubbedexpat141

I'm pretty sure the maids that turned up on Saturday were not slaves.

I hope everyone is happy with this.

Millhouse

mine either.

Economically trapped, but not a slave.

Bahtatboy

And that goes for many, many people. Even those earning 6-figure salaries.

scrubbedexpat141

Agreed. Like so many others.

Hallelujah.

Irishbeekeeper

When you cannot walk away from a job because you know you will never get this good money back home, then isnt that economic slavery?
example :
A computer runner makes about 10K Pak Rs (344 AED) maximum in Pakistan. Boarding and food has to come out of this figure.

then

He gets a job here doing the exact same thing for about 1500 AED. 800 of that goes into a bed space and food. He can now send back 700 AED back home to his family. All of a sudden his family is getting almost 3-4 times the money that he was making. This has changed their life style completely and they are all happy (or as happy as can be). He does his job well, never has a day off, always on time etc etc but has ended up with an a-hole of a boss who makes his life miserable or makes him work unreasonable hours or whatever. Can this person walk away from his job? His passport ofcourse is with the boss and if he tries and finds another job, his boss will just make up some excuse and get him a 2 year ban. Which will completely screw his family over as obviously he wont be earning the same amount then back home. SO....is he an economic slave or the person with a 6 figure salary an economic slave. We take a lot of things in our lives for granted and have the luxury to make choices which have become muscle memory to us. Fact of the matter is, as Millhouse said about that maid being born, he is right. As the divide becomes larger between the rich and the poor, the new modern day slavery is called economic slavery and that I think was the point of this thread.

Bahtatboy

Almost. Although you've covered it in your example, don't just let "economic slavery" on its own be the word, because it doesn't necessarily include the physical enslavement aspect. Economic slavery can be bandied about by affluent Westerners who are enslaved only by their own choices and decisions; the example you give is of someone whose slavery has more to do with this physical enslavement -- employers confiscating passports, exit visa regimes, bans on gaining other employment: those things mean real enslavement.

If the people in charge in states which allow slavery to happen had one ounce of integrity, they'd prevent it happenning. That they don't is contemptible, especially as many of them spout that their lives are guided by "peace". The west, though, doesn't come out of it much better, cozying up to the bastards.

**** 'em all, basically.

scot47

For many from the sub-continent getting to the UAE or Saudi is an improvement in their economic status. Hard for us from the Liberal West to grasp that !

norsk

That however does not change the fact that when the chap starts sending money home his family become reliant on it and since he cannot get the same earnings back home he is trapped. Call it whatever you want.

Without these 'willing' workers this place would still be a desert..

scot47

In the West the slaves are those who sign up for a thirty-year mortgage. Working away to make that mortgage payment every month !

scot47

Sorry - I missed that. It really does surprise me that so many cannot see their own economic situation for what really is.