Funferal

CorpWatch on Halliburton workers in Iraq

There’s an interesting story on CorpWatch about migrant workers employed by Halliburton in Baghdad. Looking at profiteering by Halliburton, and also drawing in the experiences of the workers – who get wages based on where they come from – the article gives an interesting insight to the many complex issues at stake:

While some of the men working for Halliburton in Iraq are recruited to these jobs directly from India by the Saudi-based Tamimi Corporation, most are brought over from Kuwait or Saudi Arabia, where they were offered bonus pay to work in Iraq. One worker says that the company really didn’t offer him a choice: it was Iraq or get laid off.

Interesting to note too that the Army does not seemed concerned at allegations of fraud and profiteering against Halliburton:

Yes, it is a profit motive that brings companies into a dangerous location, but that is what capitalism is all about…. If it takes profit to motivate an organization to take a tough job, then that’s the only way to do it.