Tens of thousands of workers in Iraq laboring for subcontractors under Halliburton’s $20-billion business in performing military camp support, food and transportation services to solidiers are making peanuts compared to the $80,000 to $150,000 and more that U.S. workers are hauling in for similar work.
Hailing from the Philippines, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and other nations, these lowly-paid laborers and skilled trades people, known as “third country nationals,” or TCNs, earn monthly salaries ranging between $450 to $650 a month. Some are highly-qualified electricians, plumbers, carpenters and other skilled tradespeople. If they were Americans, they could be making up to $9,000 a month for doing the same work their American colleagues perform in Iraq.
The real money made by TCNs goes to the subcontracting companies providing these workers — referred to “body shops.” Most of the firms are based in Dubai, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Jordan and they are the ones who deliver the manpower to KBR.
apparently the ones raking in the real dough. Two different sources now tell me that the businesses do not ink a contract unless the markup is 70 percent over the salaries paid to TCNs.