Manual Labourers

Dear Friends,

The renovation work is in progress at our place.

I had the opportunity to listen to bits of conversation among some workers.

They were comparing piece rates from contractor to contractor.

Almost all agreed that the best was a contractor who would give them Rs.10/- each day for 2 times tea (tea costs Rs.2/- per cup) and Rs.4/- for bus fares - up and down plus the wages without any cuts for the above.
For them this is the perk they are happy with.

I wanted to so much interfere and say I shall gladly give you all this amount henceforth, yet I have learnt never to interfere in such matters where their boss is king. What he decides goes best for his team. Our giving this small money to 5 workers on job at our site may not be much for us, a matter of gratitude and joy for the workers but the boss is the one who provides them with continuous work all round the year. Who are we to spoil his team of workers for a very temporary project like ours. The worker could be chucked out of his team. Ultimately the worker is the loser. I dont want them to lose their daily bread.

Bye for now!
Mahalakshmi