Saturday, July 5, 2008

When every fils counts!

Most months my salary arrives within the last few days of the month...give or take...so by the first of the month Im ready and able to pay my rent...my electric...phone etc...and buy some food and whatever I need for my children. Most months my bank account is fairly empty pretty much 3 of the 4 weeks until the next salary comes...my salary isnt all that much...and we are 6 people....but we manage to get by with the help of friends and just plain patience.

However, my patience is truly being tested this month as today is the 5th and my salary is still not in my account. Each day that I check I become more upset and worried about the bills not being paid..and thus problems I dont need coming my way. A call to my office informs me that salaries were delayed so increments could be given...well, should I rejoice over that or what? Im not too worried about an increment possibly coming when my landlord is wanting his rent money 4 days ago....Im not worried about an increase in my next salary when I need this salary to buy some much needed food so my kids are not left eating cheese sandwiches 2 meals a day....Im not worried about anything that might happen next month and next salary cause all my attention is focused on this month and this salary....its my right to have my salary for the work I did in a timely manner each month. Why is it my fault they couldnt organize themselves sufficiently to get the salaries out on time? Why should I be put under stress and duress through no fault of my own?

Of course this makes me feel all the worse for those employees that get cheated on a regular basis...who might go months without getting paid and are still expected to show up to work on time or get accused of "escaping" etc...who are still required to work long hours even though there is no benefit for them and their family all because they are trapped in the sponsorship slave trade. I felt sorry for them before...now I feel rage for them.

Who are these owners of companies that no doubt have big fat bank accounts that wouldnt suffer too much if one month went by without some sort of increase? Who are these employers who sit down to dinner with their families not worried in the least that some of their employees might not have that luxery? Who are these human beings that can sleep comfortable at night not giving a second thought to the fact that some of their employees might not be able to sleep worrying about unpaid bills etc...all because the salary they should have for work they honestly did has not been paid? Do these employers worry about salaries not reaching their employees on time the same way they worry when employees miss work and dont have a doctors sick form etc to account for it? They are quick to deduct from salaries but not so quick to make sure they are paid on time.

A quick look at the papers will indicate that the authorities in Bahrain arent all that concerned with unpaid salaries...many labourers and housemaids etc are forced to leave Bahrain with much of their back owed salaries unpaid...where is the justice in that? Who should one turn too when for the most part...nobody really cares how employees are treated here?

Im tempted to name the company I work for(maybe I have in previous posts...not sure)...since Ive heard from others they can be quite unfair when it comes to appreciating work done by us slaves...but I will let it go for now...I shall see what happens tomorrow when I enquire at head office as to why my salary has gone unpaid thus far...if the answer is not satisfactory...then we shall see what my next post and my next letter to the GDN sounds like. Until then...Ive got some cheese sandwhiches to fix....sigh!

1 comment:

Abu Dhabi/UAE Daily Photo said...

Madness...I hate this practice of paying some time in the first 7 days of the month. My former boss in Dubai did this very thing. I think he was trying to prevent people from quitting at the end of the month and starting elsewhere.