Det danske Fredsakademi
Kronologi over fredssagen og international politik 2. december 2005 / Time Line December 2, 2005
Version 3.51. December 2005, 3. December 2005
12/02/2005
NEWS RELEASE from the United States Department of
Defense
DoD Identifies Marine Casualty
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who
was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Cpl. Joshua D. Snyder, 20, of Hampstead, Md., died Nov. 30 of
wounds sustained from small-arms fire while conducting combat
operations against enemy forces in Fallujah, Iraq. He was assigned
to 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II
Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.
12/02/2005
KBR workers in Iraq paid 50 cents an hour
By PAMELA HESS
UPI Pentagon Correspondent
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/article_1066169.php/KBR_workers_in_Iraq_paid_50_cents_an_hour
WASHINGTON, DC, United States (UPI) -- While the United States
spends billions on troop support in Iraq, the people serving the
meals, scooping the ice cream, and washing the dishes make as
little as 50 cents an hour.
The U.S. military has paid Halliburton subsidiary KBR about $12
billion so far for so-called logistics support to U.S. military
personnel in Iraq, the largest contract of its kind ever. Around
80,000 troops are served meals at dining facilities every day under
the contract -- the other 60,000 or so fend for themselves in field
kitchens or by eating military issue "Meals Ready to Eat."
KBR in turn hires that work out entirely to subcontractors whose
job it is to recruit, transport, house, feed and pay
"third-country" nationals to stock, prepare, serve and clean up at
the dining facilities at 43 bases across Iraq.
Those workers are recruited from countries with already low wages,
where jobs are scarce. And as pressure to keep the logistics
contract cost down has increased, subcontractors have moved from
country to country in search of cheaper labor markets.
That is what brought around 770 workers from Sierra Leone, Africa,
to Iraq in July to work for ESS Support Services Worldwide, A
British-based food service company specializing, according to its
Web site, in "remote site, defense and off-shore locations."
Most of the workers are deemed unskilled and work seven days a week
for 12 hours a day, according to their contracts, one of which was
obtained by United Press International. In practice, workers said
in interviews, most only work six days a week.
There is no provision for sick leave. Any employee who threatens a
strike or attempts to organize is subject to immediate dismissal
and the employee required to pay for his return plane ticket.
For this they are paid $150 a month, roughly 45 cents an hour.
Salaries are deposited in bank accounts in Africa so the money is
available to the workers' families...
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