Comments on: The Mess Surrounding Saudi Foreign Workers

By: John Burgess

John Burgess — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:21:49 +0000

I think a minimum national wage isn’t a bad idea. I do believe, strongly that equal work should result in equal pay. But a Saudi and a foreigner might not have to have the same benefits packages.

There would need to be some legal mechanism to protect workers and prevent employers from simply going for the cheaper labor, however.

By: chucho

chucho — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 07:32:03 +0000

So basically, it’s incumbent of the KSA to establish a minimum wage for these workers! One thing I haven’t been able to ascertain is what the minimum wage is in KSA in the first place — on paper if not in practice. I’ve read that the per capita income of a Saudi is about SR2,500 a month. Not sure if that’s true. The question then becomes: Should the KSA establish a minimum wage that’s the same for Saudis and foreign workers or not, or should it establish an alternative minimum wage for non-Saudis that’s lower than for Saudis. It’s a very complicated problem, and one the US is facing as well.

By: John Burgess

John Burgess — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 20:17:38 +0000

I think one can safely say, without being taken for a communist, that workers are abused around the world. Collective bargaining has a role to play, though labor unions can become self-perpetuating bureaucracies of their own, once their utility expires.

I do not think wages in Country A should be fixed according to what the immigrant worker’s country B or C considers adequate. Instead, it should be what the market in Country A is willing to pay for that labor and what citizens of Country A expect as a minimum were they to earn it themselves.

By: chucho

chucho — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:45:56 +0000

That’s true, and a bad problem, but I was referring to the category of lower-skilled workers who will be working in the Kingdom at the lowest wages paid anyone, who also have fewer rights inside or outside of Saudi law, and to whom remitting-countries’ minimum wage protections are aimed at.

I don’t think very many doctors are getting the minimum wage in the KSA as determined by their respective governments’ minimum wage laws for their workers abroad, though I suppose this could be an issue with entry-level accountants or other diploma-holding workers.

There is an inherent bigotry in some Saudi’s perceptions — where they may pay an American more than than an Indian with equal skills simply because the former is from the US and the latter is from India — but that’s beside the point of these minimum wage standards and why they differ based on the workers’ country of origin. They differ because the Philippines has one standard and Sri Lankan has a different one.

It would be nice to see some of these remitting countries forming a standard so they’re not all competing with one another for a race to the bottom in wage terms. I hate to sound like a Communist, but the workers of the world could really use a bit more protections across the board in a formal, standardized coalition — especially with regards to the recruitment processes.

By: John Burgess

John Burgess — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 16:19:33 +0000

The various countries may play a role (most do not) in setting minimum wages and conditions for low-level workers. They do not play a role in the employment of white collar or professional workers.

As a result, you can have two equally qualified accountants or doctors, say, with the same education and certifications, but one will draw higher salaries based solely on what passport he carries.

This has been a source of great resentment among those holding the ‘wrong’ passport.

By: chucho

chucho — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 15:41:43 +0000

I agree with much of what is said here, but I think it’s important to explain that the different pay rates has to do with rules implemented by respective countries. The Saudis don’t set these wages. Of course, it behooves them to do that, to set a standard minimum wage (at, say, the highest of the countries remitting workers, which I think is the Philippines, which I think generally has the best foreign-workers advocacy of the labor-remitting countries) but that does explain the different wage rates.