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Life in the barracks…<br />
“We were paid US$400. In today’s dollars it<br />
may not seem like much but back then it was a<br />
lot of money,” he says. “We were given an<br />
allowance and the rest of the money was sent<br />
to our bank accounts at home.”<br />
James said the forced savings was a way to<br />
make sure they had money when their<br />
contract ended and that their dependents<br />
were taken care of.<br />
And although second and third jobs were not<br />
allowed, special privileges were given to ‘good’<br />
workers to work on other fields. James earned<br />
that privilege but that was after getting caught<br />
sneaking out to another job.<br />
“The Super noticed that I was gone every<br />
weekend so he decided to wait for me<br />
around the building one morning,” he<br />
remembers. “But, I had been working on<br />
that other job for about two months<br />
already.”<br />
"'Where are you going?' the Super asked<br />
me.<br />
“'To work,' I said. ‘He didn’t like us<br />
working for other companies.’<br />
“'Let’s go back. Come over here, make<br />
some breakfast,' he said to me as he<br />
opened up the kitchen. 'And from now<br />
on let me know when you’re going.'”<br />
James earned special privileges not<br />
only because he was a good worker but<br />
because, well…
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