The recent events that saw cleaning workers staying away from work while demanding more pay moved me. That they stopped working in more than one location to demand a salary increase spoke volumes about the end to their patience. Now, I would like to take a moment to explain to those who do not know what these cleaning workers do and how much they earn? They generally put in more than 10 hours a day, mostly in difficult conditions. Be it the heat or cold, sunny or cloudy, it does not matter, they have to wake up early in the morning and clean the streets that we litter without nary a thought. They also make the rounds of various areas to collect the garbage from containers in the neighborhoods. In between they manage to take their meals and drinks while continuing to work. All that for SR250 or SR300 a month? If someone believes that I am joking, then he must be removed from reality. Well, I am not joking. The salary of these cleaning workers is the big joke here. I always asked myself whether I could survive earning SR300 a month? And my immediate answer was an emphatic no. I went around and asked a group of people what they thought about working for eight hours, not ten, a day and earn SR300 a month. I just asked them to consider it. The immediate response from many was a sweeping laugh as if I was kidding. I am not joking here that the majority of them also called me crazy and addle-brained. They all threw back a single question: Who will survive on this 'stupid' salary? Deep inside I answered — the cleaning workers! A friend of mine asked me if I was serious when I asked him to accept a job for a salary that he spends for one lunch. Another told me that the whole amount would not be enough for him to buy his Adidas sport T-Shirt. I was watching the events unfolding at King Fahd Hospital in Madinah where cleaning workers, who are paid SR350 a month, went on strike urging the contractor to increase their salaries. The best way to describe this salary is ‘slave salary'. The contractor, meanwhile, has been promising these workers for months that he would increase their salaries. But he has been spewing hot air all these months. The fact that the promises were not kept forced the cleaning workers to go on strike. The hospital was smelly and garbage was everywhere. A man could argue that SR350 is good salary in their country. Fine, I would like to agree with this man. But I would like him to answer this, how could they work by cleaning our country when they would draw wages based on their country? They are living in Saudi Arabia and in this country SR350 a month salary is a joke, a silly one. Even if these workers were provided with accommodation and food, still this salary is way too low. A few years back, we all saw the result when Jeddah was left with no cleaning workers for a month because the contract of their previous company expired a month before the new contractor was to take over. Jeddah was filled with garbage and people were searching for the cleaning workers to come and clean the streets. There was no one to clean and only then people, who had never shown respect for cleaning workers and never even regarded them as humans, went to the extent of saying that they would pay anything to see them back on the street. The same issue happened in Madinah and Makkah two weeks back when cleaning workers went on strike for a few days; officials had to negotiate and beg them to return with more promises. I urge officials to show compassion toward these workers and treat them like human beings first and pay them a good and decent wage that can provide them a good standard of living in this country and also a decent living to their families back home. The last thing we want to see is a contractor breaking his promises to these cleaning workers. A group of young Saudis had taken the initiative and began working as cleaners to experience what the workers have to go through. None of them were able to bear the work for three hours standing in the heat. This was a generous attempt by them to draw attention to this forgotten segment of society. Cleaning workers are the ones we should respect first, honor them and thank them for what they do. They do their job and bear the sacrifices in silence without getting a word of appreciation, despite their meager pay. I urge officials to reconsider their salaries and do something to raise their pay scale. – Mahmoud Ahmad can be reached at [email protected]
