forward: BAR BENDERS SUFFERINGS
from Thapa／平哥, a Nepali bar bender who goes on strike:
BAR BENDERS SUFFERINGS
I am a bar bender. I have been involved in this occupation since the past 11 years. So, I am putting forward here, the things I have seen and experience.
I hope you already know by now, how our bosses deduct our daily wage from $1200 to $550-$670 and extend the working hour up to 9 hours.
Now, I would like to tell you about the ill-treatment faced by us from the bosses. There is one word that we frequently hear and experience at work……that is “my sai jou a lei“!! This is the word we frequently hear when we work a little slowly, drink water or go to the toilet. Like:
1. Lei jou gam mang, my sai jou a lei!
You are working too slow, don’t you want to work / you can go!
2. Gam duo yam seui lei, my sai jou a lei!!
You are drinking so much water, you can leave if you don’t work!!
3. Gam dou wu liu lei, my sai jou a lei!!!
Why are you going to the toilet so much, you can leave if you don’t want to work!!!
Another problem is, the provision for the boss to sack the workers anytime. For example, if the boss is angry, he will say “get out right now!” or “don’t come to work from tomorrow!” If it rains around 10:00a.m., he will tell us to go home and give us two hours pay only.
The sweat from our body wets even our shoes. During the hot days, we eat very little during lunch because we will have vomiting if we are full and do hard work during the day. Due to the excessive sweating from heat, the muscles of our hands and feat begin to cramp. Even during times like that, the bosses, instead of showing sympathy, term us as powerless or weak person.
Despite all these ill-treatments and misbehaviours, we cannot work for more than 20 days in a month. Now, you think yourself and say, is our demand for daily wage of $900 and 8 hours of work reasonable or not?
THAPA PREM
day33:9.9
留言 10 Sep, 07