chinese workers being treated like trinis

[janfar]

AP, having been to other countries where chinese work this is typical facilities for them. They get say 10k to build toilet facility, and then they build as cheap as they can and split the spare change. Jack the ripper could probably vouch for what i saying, but those are typical toilets for Chinese.

The pay on the otherhand, thats just not on, I would never tolerate in anyway, not being payed for over 3 days past due date much less 2 mnths.

[evo-STI-k]

er do any of you all know how long our GOVT takes to pay contractors???

if you really knew the truth -YOU would protest as well!

[me_ngod4eva]

Why did the Chinese Embassy say their hands are tied?...didn't colder hart wife have a big role to play in bringing them here?...doesn't she run sh1t in the embassy? Now she's silent?

How can an Embassy stand by and watch their citizens be taken advantage of, that is certainly not the role of an embassy.

I was told months ago by a relative that worked on a project with them that what few people know is, most of these Chinese laborers are actually Prisoners.

That might explain why no-one, not even their own embassy is standing up for them

[AbstractPoetic]

AP, having been to other countries where chinese work this is typical facilities for them. They get say 10k to build toilet facility, and then they build as cheap as they can and split the spare change. Jack the ripper could probably vouch for what i saying, but those are typical toilets for Chinese.

The pay on the otherhand, thats just not on, I would never tolerate in anyway, not being payed for over 3 days past due date much less 2 mnths.

So they build their own facilities?

"Typical" neither makes it humane nor hygienic. I still believe government has the leverage to insist and ensure guest workers are treated fairly and humanely.

I know this practice is also quite common in Dubai where Pakistinis, Bangladeshis and Indian workers are treated poorly with little to no pay, some in debt for taking out loans for UAE work visas and having to pay off their debt on a measley income.

The joys of capitalism.

[bushwakka]

dubai is built on the backbone of imported workers from the poorer parts of asia such as india, pakistan, malaysia and china....to the rest of the world, this is nothing new....

[Maserati]

I wonder if the UN is takin note of this?

The UN probably a bit busy taking note of the human rights violations taking place en masse in China itself than some out of context Newsday photo.

If these fellas had try this in China, quarter of them mighta be dead or re-educated by now.

lol the UN has more pressing issues to deal with than a labour dispute in T&T

[janfar]

Yes, they build their own facility, this is the way it is in China as well, what they consider normal we consider inhumane. Its just ignorance.


And what about Trinis that leave for NYC and the like to work for meagre wages, live in peoples basement, clean crap for a living. We dont complain about them, but then again, im sure a chinee not goin bach home sounding like a fresh water trini.

[AbstractPoetic]

And what about Trinis that leave for NYC and the like to work for meagre wages, live in peoples basement, clean crap for a living.

What about them? You're comparing apples to oranges. The majority of Trinis that left for NYC (illegal or legal) made a choice to leave for better opportunity and the majority never remain where they started. Many start with menial work but through personal advancements do very well for themselves.

The onyl commonality between these Chinese labourers and the majority of Trini emigrants is their initial socioeconomic status. Then again, these labourers are more likely to remain in destitute than those Trinidadians who migrated.

[janfar]

I think its the same concept. The trinis left for better opportunity, so did the chinese, in that same breath, some trinis will stay on and never come back, same as the chinese. Look at history, most chinese come here, struggle and now own businesses and have homes, living better lives than the average trini. Same as these Chinese guys, they come here for betterment and the sacrifice to make it.

All i am saying, these guys know what they are here for and know how to sacrifice for it.

[evo-STI-k]

I think its the same concept. The trinis left for better opportunity, so did the chinese, in that same breath, some trinis will stay on and never come back, same as the chinese. Look at history, most chinese come here, struggle and now own businesses and have homes, living better lives than the average trini. Same as these Chinese guys, they come here for betterment and the sacrifice to make it.

All i am saying, these guys know what they are here for and know how to sacrifice for it.

Well said, versus the LOCAL poor community mentality , work today, get paid, spend and if you have no more then work tomorrow.

Thats why the poor in this country will remain poor, their mentality!

[d spike]

AP, having been to other countries where chinese work this is typical facilities for them. They get say 10k to build toilet facility, and then they build as cheap as they can and split the spare change. Jack the ripper could probably vouch for what i saying, but those are typical toilets for Chinese.

The pay on the otherhand, thats just not on, I would never tolerate in anyway, not being payed for over 3 days past due date much less 2 mnths.

While I see your point, don't you think that the toilets built for people working in TnT should be built to our standards? To standards our Health officials would approve of? We (are supposed to) have standards of some sort... a hole to squat over would definitely not be acceptable in the Hyatt - why should it be acceptable elsewhere in the same country? Is it that they are lesser beings? It concerns the standards of the host, not the visitor, especially when we have a vague perception that ours are better in some way.
And also, if it is acceptable to them, why then are they protesting their conditions?

In a country where it is acceptable to squat in the bush, one expects the toilet facilities to consist of a paper roll and a luchette (and one says thank you when you are graciously given the tool with a clean handle). The same thinking applies to a country whose citizenry is accustomed to lavatories...

[horsepwrjunki]

ap... do u know how many of these we have still?

[AbstractPoetic]

horsepwrjunki,

I am fully aware. However, outhouses and galvanized homes are not how the majority of Trinidadians live, nor should it be the accomodation to some of our guest workers.

While BP guest workers fall in a different category to Beijing Liujan Construction Corporation employees, the government should employ some level of standard for all guest employers and the treatment of their employees.

Why are companies allowed onto TT soil to do as they please and treat their workers as chattel?

And for TT to not step in and inspect the treatment of guest workers?

Give me a break. These labourers are doing more in helping achieve this "Vision 20/20" goal than most locales are able to achieve in their lifetime.

They should be treated with some level of respect and dignity.

[SR]

has anyone noticed the sudden exlposion of "chinee" food shops around the country since the "importation" of these labourers and that the majority speak very little or no english

[horsepwrjunki]

guest?..

u will be suprises at the quantity is actualy pretty high btw..Ap. now u askin the govt to dictate privacy prefrences.. jsut because we are brought up to be private in the bathroom how do u think ceartin cultures look at ppl in bikinis on the beach... now im jsut playin devils avocate here and am shocked at some of the condidtions but u cannot apply our culture to every one elses.. esp with out knowin the REAL background behind a storry like this. if u really want to do soem diggin and cry to the govt ask why this contractor not only owes the workers but local suppliers and subcontractorrs

[hydroep]

Core-taa porchion fly lice?...

[AbstractPoetic]

Developed nations were built on the backs of the exploited, it always existed is just now we see it first hand.

The Atlantic Slave Trade and Industrial Revolution were during a time where there were no labor laws, let alone an organizational body like the United Nations.

The Caribbean especially was and still is being exploited for its labour and resources, now it's time we exploit others.

And the consequence of exploitation is being on the "black list" of the world, where giant companies would no longer consider entering trade agreements or contracts with countries that openly exploit others and do nothing about it.

Welcome to the 21st century. It pays to be seen as the good guy.

[AbstractPoetic]

guest?..

u will be suprises at the quantity is actualy pretty high btw..Ap. now u askin the govt to dictate privacy prefrences.. jsut because we are brought up to be private in the bathroom how do u think ceartin cultures look at ppl in bikinis on the beach... now im jsut playin devils avocate here and am shocked at some of the condidtions but u cannot apply our culture to every one elses..

Are you serious? You believe it is Chinese culture to have outhouses or holes in the ground to poop away? In India, yes, but in China?

I guess they also have hoses to spray after every dropping?

Have you been to China or East Asia to determine what is and is not standard procedure when it comes to hygiene?

[janfar]

There was a thread discussing this. It is fact that chinese culture is to use this method. Same way it is culture in islamic states to use hands and water instead of toilet paper and its culture in southamerican countries to throw th used paper in a bin next to the toilet instead of the toilet for flushing.



Just type toilets in china and thats the first thing that will come up.

[evo-STI-k]

Modern Slavery is all in the mind..........something many people blame up to today for their failures in life!

[d spike]

Modern Slavery is all in the mind..........something many people blame up to today for their failures in life!

Not sure I follow you... if by the latter half of your statement you mean people blaming slavery (colonial times) for their failures, then yes I agree.

However, your initial statement means you are referring to slavery as it exists today (if so, then how could it be in the mind?) and working for no pay, living in sub-standard conditions, unable to return home... how is that in the mind? Seems quite real to me...

[pugboy]

those toilets also exist in the rich middle east as well as parts of old europe eg italy

[d spike]

Is it (these toilets) considered acceptable here? I'm not saying it's wrong - just asking if you would expect to see it in de Hyatt or KFC...

Of course, many things are acceptable in other parts of the world: stoning women found in adultery, whipping a woman for beer-drinkng, driving on the right, not speaking to strange women... should we accept these and allow them to be performed here because, "they do it elsewhere and they find it acceptable..."

[pugboy]

depends what you define as acceptable, both legally and socially-culturally

is it acceptable to pee on people wall in woodbrook/st james during carnival ?

[d spike]

depends what you define as acceptable, both legally and socially-culturally

is it acceptable to pee on people wall in woodbrook/st james during carnival ?

No.

Neither is it acceptable to steal people's belongings, rape women and children, shoot people in broad daylight...

All this (and wall-watering) happens to be illegal in TnT - but it is still done, anyway. (Maybe public urination was a poor choice to explain your point.)

A society tends to define acceptable behaviour within the framework of its laws. The building (barracks?) that housed the chinese workers does not conform to our laws (Town and Country Planning).

Whether the law has "teeth" or not is another argument...

Leh mih hear yuh

[pugboy]

of course it is a poor example but it just goes to show that we are a scapegoat society
and the laws buttons are only pressed to suit whoever they feel like.

[d spike]

of course it is a poor example but it just goes to show that we are a scapegoat society
and the laws buttons are only pressed to suit whoever they feel like.

Okay... tell me this, then: would you replace the toilet in your house with one of those? Would your family agree with your doing this?

[d spike]

whipping women for beer drinking...tell me more of this

Why?

[pugboy]

those are a lot less to clean if anything, you cant use that if you have bad knees though

one thing i notice about them construction workers, they like to squat with the arms folded
you seldom see them sitting on the edge of the pavement sprawl out cepep style

of course it is a poor example but it just goes to show that we are a scapegoat society
and the laws buttons are only pressed to suit whoever they feel like.

Okay... tell me this, then: would you replace the toilet in your house with one of those? Would your family agree with your doing this?

[d spike]

It sounds interesting

Form a thread about it if you want it discussed.