Wednesday, June 6, 2007

TIME TO CLEAN OUT THE CLEANING COMPANIES

Ok I'm not going to pretend that I know anything to do with business. I don't even care to know, what I know though is that I've been going to the hospitals lately to visit family and friends. In my visit I saw A LOT of cleaners cleaning CONSTANTLY!! As you all know all of them are asian expats usually from Indian Sri Lanka or Bangladesh. I had the chance to speaks with a few of them in 3 different hospitals. ALL of them get paid a monthly salary of 20kd, THIS VIOLATES LABOUR LAWS IN KUWAIT. Now as I said I don't know anything about business but what I know is that the big profit made from companies that underpay their workers is TRASH. The Cleaners I spoke with worked for Al Abraj Cleaning Company and Al Nusif Cleaning company and a third company that I couldn't remember or look up- something al azrag- if I recall.

My post is based on my personal experience and complaints from the workers of those companies, I would appreciate it if someone (preferably the companies themselves) could clarify/deny this information.


Al Abraj Cleaning :
Ministry of Defense (Squads of the Amiri Guard)
Kuwait National Petroleum Company
Kuwait Oil Company (Internal and external cleaning)
Ministry of Health (Cleaning and transport)
Ministry of Interior (Ahmadi Governorate)
Contract of the Ministry of Defense (Mubarak Brigade and Cooperation and Provisions Brigade)
Contract of the Ministry of Defense (Muhammad Al Ahmad Maritime Base)
Contract of the Ministry of Defense (Ahmad Al Jaber Air Base)
Contract of the Ministry of Defense (Air Defense and Power Brigade)
Contract of the Ministry of Defense (Amiri Palaces)
Ministry of Interior (Capital Governorate)
Contract of the Ministry of Transportation
Contract of the Ministry of Public Health
Contract of the Awkaf Ministry (Capital)
Public Authority for Civil Information
Public Transport Company
Ministry of Interior (Jahra)
Arifjan Camp
Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor
Oil Tankers Company
Real Estate Bank
Union of the Cooperative Associations
Kuwait Public Transport Company
United Gulf Company

AND

Al Masseelah Cleaning Company
Contract of the Ministry of Defense (Ahmadi Governorate)
Contract of the Ministry of Defense (Moubarak Brigade and Cooperation and Provisions Brigade)
Contract of the Ministry of Defense (Muhammad Al Ahmad Maritime Base)
Contract of the Ministry of Defense (Ahmad Al Jaber Air Base)
Contract of the Ministry of Defense ( Amiri Guard)
Contract of the Ministry of Transportation
Ministry of Interior (Ahmadi Governorate)
Ministry of Public Works

Board of Directors

Mr. Jamal Ahmad Al KandariChairman
Mr. Samir Nasser Ali HusseinDeputy Chairman & Board Member
Mr. Yousuf Saqr Abdullah Al FahadBoard Member
Abdul Wahab A. Al MutawaBoard Member
Mr. Sami Abdullah Al Abdul HadiBoard Member
Engineer, Hussein ZamanCEO
Mr. Ken WellsGM, Business Development




Fajer Al- Khaleej Contracting Co. is a subsidiary of Wael Al-Nusif Trading Company

http://www.waelalnusif.com/project.aspx


The following companies are companies I don't know anything about but heard through word of mouth from people of salary violations:-


Al Ahlea Circle Cleaning Company ?
http://www.alahlea.com/home.htm

Kuwait Swedish Cleaning Services Co. S.A.K
http://www.kuwaitswedish.com/home.html

National Cleaning Co.
http://www.ncc-kw.com/en/index.asp


Tanzifco
http://www.tanzifco.com/index2.html


I'm sure they are many more companies and in many other sectors. A family member of mine has a farm and he hires workers from a company to work on his farm. I was visiting a month ago and saw the men working in the fields at around 3 pm. I stopped them from work and explained to them that they can choose not to work at this time but instead work night shifts. I got an angry call from the farm's managment and so I called my family member to explain to him what i've done. He said "Bravo, good job and while you're at it, tell them to leave and find somewhere else to work. I am paying for services and expect to be given service for what I've paid"


It frustrates me to think that I want to make changes and I'm not able to even in my own family. (excluding mom, dad, brothers and sisters) The workers get paid quite well and didn't want to jeopardize their jobs. I was trying to get them to sue the farm.


So the most important thing for any person is to be paid for his services and get paid according to the contract. 20 kuwaiti dinars a month is INHUMANE.

13 comments:

Shurouq said...

Finally got the time to visit :)
Great Blog!

You know what's even more sad? One worker tells me 3 of the 20 KDs go to the company for housing and insurance.

Keep the blog running.. We sure need more people like you.

sws said...

Thank you for honouring me with your kind words and presence. I have been devoted to this cause for the past three years, unfortunately I have not received enough support from people.

I think human rights issues in Kuwait are sidelined because sadly people are happy the way they are, god forbid they pay higher wages to their house keepers, cooks and nannies.They won't be able to buy their seasonal Chloe bags or the latest car.

Sadly even the "merchant families" and "shyookh" are the biggest violators, if you talk to them about it, they deny it ever happens "Dakhel Al Sour", how pitiful.

The amount of people that have complained about my interest in the protection of labour expats exceeds by atleast 10 times the amount of people who tapped me on my back and said "ya36eech al 3afya".

I don't expect or even seek recognition, but I would like to recognize the intolerable situation we live in with all our egotistic, selfish, superior attitudes.


Thanks again for commenting, I'm sure you're very busy, but I hope Inshalla you can join our organization, we sure can use your expertize in reaching the masses as you do so well.

Anonymous said...

GOD BLESS YOU BOTH .

Anonymous said...

هل شاهدت الفيلم القصير الذي عرض منذ أسبوع في جمعية الخريجين ؟ الفيلم يعرض جانبا من معاناة العمالة الوافدة ،في صورة عامل نظافة . وهو جدير بالمشاهدة

Archeology Uncovered said...

Hello :)
A lot of things i'm curious about learning:
So what's the next course of action? I mean, do you sue on behalf of the workers?
And could you please clarify to me how this 'night shift' system works?
Becuase sometimes i see 3umal tandheef in the streets in the morning and i sometimes see 3ummal bina (construction) on the way home (2pm).
What are the official working hours for all these people?
And what can they do if they are forced to be outside?
Thanks.

Unknown said...

20 KD !! the poor souls!! What would 20KD be enough for !! I'm sure they have a family to support! Something has to be done about it! They're also human!

sws said...

anonymous, No i haven't seen it but would love to, would you kindly provide me with the name of the movie or director's name?

Arch, wassup chica?! according to the labour laws in kuwait, workers should stop working from 1-4pm during the summer time which in the contract is August only.
We approach this situation (as we're doing now) by getting as many labour workers from specific companies to sue the companies for breech of contract, we provide them with pro-bono lawyers. We also file a complaint to the ministry of health about these companies so they would either pressure the companies to pay better wages or find better companies.

sws said...

boochi, it's insane.

Anonymous said...

sws,it is not only the cleaning companies, there are many people does not get what they should take,the cleaners not only getting 20K.D. & it is Haram,but they start thinking of stealing,killing,raiping...etc.
it effects the comunity of Kuwait.
God will never BLESS Kuwait with those actions.
what do you think the main issue that makes those cleaning companies treat the workers this way?is it the Kafeel Rule???!!!if we know that, we can work ALL togther to solve the problem,...any one can help me?

sws said...

It's completely the sponsor's fault (kafeel) but ofcourse the government is just as bad for not putting pressure on those sponsors who violate. Another problem is what we call "run aways" I will talk more about that later, what is a "run away?" who are they running from?! Isn't it like slavery if someone decided not to work for you, you call the cops on them and complain that they "ran away".

frigg said...

this is great stuff. i love the way you expose each and every known suspected violator by name as i've grown weary of newspapers lightly treading where they should be stomping instead. they shy away from specifying names and even the more intrepid writers hold back.

once they get publicly shamed, these people will start truly thinking about how much social capital they can risk before it becomes too costly.

frigg said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

20KD. Wtf are you supposed to do with that? Eat that spam meat in a can that cost 200 fils every day with bread?

It's so fu%king said that our country is filled with people that exploit these poor people, because they can get away with it.

Yes i'm Kuwaiti, and it disgusts me how many people here are selfish, cheap, and greedy. If you treat these poor asians like this, you don't deserve crap and God will punish thee.