The flip-flop workforce

 

 

We needed photos for official documents.  They love documents here, all in paper form and several copies. Not copied by a machine but multiplied through a carbon paper. 

 

We went to a photo studio for instant pictures. The store was the size of a smallish bedroom.

 

We  were greeted by the staff, a total of eight. A good customer-staff -ratio. 

Three of the men had a cashier function, one was the photographer, one edited pictures, one was the editor's boss and one was the big boss. Plus a male cleaner. All in flip-flops. 

 

 

 

The photographer took the pictures.

The editor worked with the previous customer's pictures getting rid of the customer's nose and ear hair, virtually.

 

The copy machine made sheets of our pictures.

Two, at the most three of the employees cut the sheets into pictures with regular scissors.

We went to the first cashier who wrote a receipt, took the receipt to the second cashier who took the money. The third cashier controlled that everything went correctly.

All the time the big boss shouted advice (or something) to his employees.

Bangladesh has a population of almost 160 million people. Since there is huge availability of surplus labor, Bangladesh is a favorite destination of labor intensive industries. Many underemployed and underpaid people. Even more overemployed and severely underpaid people.

The garment industry and its shocking working conditions have got a lot of attention. Fortunately, the situation is improving, but very slowly.

Occupational safety and health standards in the most labor intensive jobs are appalling. Construction workers, for example, are equipped with flip-flops, bare hands, no hard hats.