I didn't realize that when I moved to Africa I would become The Boss. What??? I just spent the past two years on the Executive Board of a labor union for god's sake. But all of a sudden I find myself living the life of the wealthy uber-elite, with 5 employees whose livelihoods I am responsible for, and whose sole purpose is to keep me safe and comfortable. Geez, I came here to help people. I took a huge pay-cut, left friends and family, and moved half-way around the world to work for the underserved and the stigmatized and the people that don't have an advocate standing up for them. I did not come here to have my supper cooked for me every night, or my car to be washed, or my bed to be made every day. Some people might think that it sounds like the life, but honestly, I would rather live in a mud hut.
That being said, I have some of the most honest, reliable and downright friendly employees one could ask for. And it makes me happy to know that I am providing good jobs and good salaries to 5 people that otherwise would be shit out of luck. But man, they don't know the principles of the bargaining table.
Part of the problem is that I was totally unprepared. No one really told me that living here involved guards and housekeepers and gardeners. No one explained what a typical salary was or what the usual benefits are. But, being a true believer in the process of negotiation, I told them that we were going to have a contract. I wrote up a document that spelled out work hours, base salary, incremental pay raises, sick/vacation time, benefits (guards get a rain suit, a warm jacket, a pair of boots, tea and sugar, plus a small fund to be used towards educational or medical expenses) and the rules and expectations of the job.
I think they were a little surprised. Especially about the part where is delineates what will get them fired (like repeatedly being found asleep, or the house getting robbed). You have to understand that in Malawi it is basically impossible to get fired, even for being egregiously incompetent. I think this goes back to when Banda (the first "president" i.e. dictator) was in power, and stocked the ranks of the government and business worlds with his friends and nephews. There are actually quite strong labor laws in this country and you can easily get taken to labor court for "inappropriately" treating an employee. (I heard a story about another expat who fired their guard after they were caught stealing and ended up in court for not continuing to pay the salary after the incident.) This results in a whole lot of disincentives for doing a good job (or even showing up), and a whole lot of nothing productive ever getting done.
But I digress. This is certainly a problem with some of the Malawian employees at the clinic where I work, but my guards and housekeeper are incredibly hardworking guys with a tremendous amount of integrity. They may not have ever signed a labor contract before, but man, they caught on quick. Once they saw the details in writing, they had a lot of suggestions. Like giving them their whole raise upfront, instead of incrementally as incentive for good work. Like death benefits ("what if I were to die while I was working, would you provide for my dead body?"). Like a year-end bonus. Like school fees and healthcare for their children. Like funeral costs for their children or their spouses. (Oy! I guess these things are part of everyday life here). The whole thing made me SO uncomfortable.
These guys make $100 a month working 12 hour shifts for 23 out of 28 days. Of course I want to provide all of these other things for them. But the truth is that they already make almost double what most house guards make, and their benefit package is generous in comparison to many others. I don't want to get caught up in the whole colonial caste system here, but I also don't want to be manipulated or persuaded through my fairly generous nature to provide a way of life that is not sustainable. No matter if they were to make $50 a month or $500, they would still be living hand to mouth, because in Malawi, if you have more money, you take on the care of more relatives, neighbors and friends, because there are always those who have less. And they would never be able to get hired for this same job at this salary by someone else. I am more interested in investing in their human potential - by funding them to finish high school, get trained as a driver, or take cooking classes, so that they don't have to work as an unskilled guard at a low-paying wage again.
In the end I gave them most of the things they asked for. We compromised a little. On a couple of points I held my ground, mostly to remind them that whether I like it or not, I am still the boss. You can't blame them for taking the opportunity to get what they can out of an arrangement that is so inherently imbalanced. What did they have to lose?
