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I reckon Bahamut is probably going to give me the best answers to this, and my apologies if I spelt Phillopeno wrong.
Ok, as you know, I am a Marine Engineer. This means, that I work on a ship for 3 to 4 months at a time, 8-5 a day, with sometimes many more hours in between.
The reason for my post, is on board the ships, there are a lot of Phillopenos. They are mainly AB's, who help on board. Also, the Cook, The Steward, The Motorman etc.
Now, they work stupid hours. For instance, the motorman did 8-5 standard, but started at 6am, and worked til 9pm every day.
Not only this, they do 9months at a time. 9 months without seeing their family.
And whats worse, is that they do it for $600 a month.
Now, thats like an eighth of what a marine engineer gets.
Now, I had many in depth chats with them about this, and they say that they get a very good wage compared to in the Phillopenes.
But does this make it right? They are working mainly in a westerners profession, so shouldnt they be paid the same? Just because of their countrys economy, doesnt mean they should be paid less.
But, they all seemed very happy with their wage, even knowing it was like 8 times less than the lowest paid marine engineer.
Anyway, I was just wondering Bahamuts opinions on this.
So basically, how come they are so happy when they should be earning more? How come they are contracted to do double the trip of a westerner?
Either way, i was amazed at the culture of them, and their attitude towards life. I've made many friends from over there, and hopefully one day I will get out there to see them!
*Oh, and I cant recall correctly, but I think they were on about 600$ a month. It could have been $1000.
Oh, and Bahamut - Kamusta ka? (hope thats right!)
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