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Mikhail Mordasov / AFP - Getty Images, file
Construction workers, many of them migrants, go for lunch in April 2011 at the ski resort that is part of the Sochi Olympic venue. Some workers are now complaining of having no, or few, breaks and of going unpaid.
Published at 11:10 a.m. ET: Months without pay, 12-hour shifts, few days off, fined for being sick, cramped accommodations filled with the “overwhelming smell of sweat” -- and deported for complaining.
A report by Human Rights Watch published Wednesday paints a grim picture of life for some foreign workers building the Olympic venues for the Sochi 2014 Games in Russia -- set to be the most expensive Olympics in history at a cost of $51 billion.
Based on interviews with 66 workers over three years at what has been described as the world’s biggest construction site, the report catalogs a litany of complaints about conditions.
“Athletes, journalists, and Olympic ticket holders in Sochi will watch the 2014 Winter Games in iconic modern sports venues, broadcast centers, and hotels,” the author of the report, Jane Buchanan, said in a statement.
Dmitry Lovetsky / AP
A hotel is shown under construction Monday at the mountain Olympic cluster east of Sochi. Much of the heavy work is being conducted by thousands of migrant workers, and conditions have caught the eye of Human Rights Watch.
“But many migrant workers have toiled in exploitative, abusive conditions to build these shimmering façades and luxurious interiors,” she added.
The report said most of the workers were carpenters, welders, steel fitters or people doing odd-jobs, typically earning $1.80 to $2.60 an hour. They came from countries such as Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Serbia, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
“Some workers worked for up to six months without pay, hoping to be paid and reluctant to leave, thereby forfeiting several months’ salary,” the report said. “Workers in these most egregious situations ultimately did leave these abusive employers, concluding that they might never be paid.”
Cigarette money
Omurbek, 30, from Uzbekistan, told the researchers that he “worked for almost three months, others worked for five months, for nothing.”
“Nothing but promises, promises from them,” he added. Occasionally, however, he would be given small amounts of money for cigarette and phone calls.
And Radmilo Petrovic, 52, from Serbia, lost more than just unpaid wages, according to the report.
As Russia prepares to welcome guests from around the world for the Winter Olympics next year, NBC's Ben Fogle takes an insider's look at the progress of Sochi's Olympic Park and gets the scoop on a few athletes to look out for next year.
After eight months of work for "a little bit [of money] here or there," he returned home penniless. His wife accused him of squandering or hiding the money and promptly left him.
Ruziboi Aliev, 48, a father of four from Tajikistan, worked on the Main Media Center site. He told Human Rights Watch that he worked 12-hour shifts and had five days off over a four-month period. A 23-year-old worker from Uzbekistan said he had one day off in six months.
“The work is really very difficult. There isn’t any rest. It’s really hard. The pay is miserly, but what can you do? ... They don’t even give you a minute to have a cigarette, or rest for a minute,” Salimjon, 22, from Uzbekistan said.
Isamiddin, 43, from Kyrgyzstan, said he was fined $32 a day for two days when he didn’t show up for work. “I was sick both times,” he said, complaining the fine was unfair as he earned $19 to $22 a day.
Workers described 150 to 200 people living in houses designed for one family.
One, from Uzbekistan, said he slept on a bunk bed in a room containing 8 to 12 people. “In the summer, it’s hot and stuffy, totally unbearable. In the winter, it’s not as bad; it’s tolerable, though you get really tired of the overwhelming smell of sweat,” he said.
The report said workers were sometimes not given a contract, meaning their employment status and therefore their right to live in Russia was “irregular.”
Mikhail Mordasov / AFP - Getty Images
The Winter Olympics arrive in Sochi on Feb. 7, 2014. A look at how the Russian city is shaping up for its moment in the spotlight.
Human Rights Watch said that in October 2010, 50 workers staged a public demonstration about non-payment of wages. Their company then contacted state migration officials to check their documents “after which dozens of workers who had complained or demonstrated were deported.”
The claims, many of which were made anonymously for fear of retaliation, come after similar concerns were raised about foreign workers who helped build the venues and infrastructure for the 2008 Beijing Games.
In an e-mailed statement, state corporation Olympstroy, which oversees the construction work by a number of firms, said protection of workers’ rights was being strictly enforced. “Any worker, who has concerns about violations of his rights, is being encouraged … to report the problem,” it said.
Olympstroy added that it had received only five complaints from workers about “violations of their rights” during the past two years. “All violations have been properly addressed and dealt with as per the Russian law,” it added.
'It is never easy'
The International Olympic Committee issued a statement Wednesday saying “it is never easy dealing with anonymous allegations.”
“We would continue to urge HRW to furnish us with the details of cases that allow us to deal with them on a case-by-case basis and to push for action when necessary,” the IOC added.
Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak, who was with President Vladimir Putin in Sochi, Wednesday, dismissed the suggestion that there was a significant problem.
“There have not been enough complaints to deserve an international report,” he told reporters, according to Reuters.
Join NBC News' Dmitry Solovyov and Alexei Gordienko as they make the 1,000-mile journey from Moscow to 2014 Olympic host Sochi.
Asked about Kozak’s response, Buchanan said it was “inappropriate to diminish this.”
“What the Russian government should be doing is investigating these types of allegation and making sure they don’t take place,” she said.
Buchanan said workers from different companies and different Olympic sites had “consistently” reported similar complaints and stressed they were given no incentive to speak to Human Rights Watch.
She said the contractors involved had generally given responses -- detailed in the report -- that were “vague” generalizations, denying there was a problem.
Asked about what athletes and others thinking of going to Sochi should do in light of the report, Buchanan said that Human Rights Watch was “not against the Olympics.”
“The Olympics is a tremendous opportunity for Russia to present itself to the world,” she said. “We just want people to know that this is going on and to have higher expectations for future games -- that these types of abuses shouldn’t take place.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
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Leave a Comment:
Corporations can't wait to create these same "global" working conditions right here in the US.
Quote from Beavis and Butthead.
YashBudini...here is a clue from the article...
This is not really a private company. It is a state owned (Russian Owned) company that manages both public funds and private investment.
It is really unlikely that the fox is going to explore the complaints of the chickens in the hen house. The state controls employee complaints, the state control visa and immigrant labor issues and the state is not going to take it very kindly that the world wishes to peak at their dirty little secrets. But, they will be more than happy to showcase their beautiful and modern venue to the world.
If not us...you are spot on.
It's always amusing when people look at a case of government corruption and exploitation, shake their heads, and then conclude "see how evil corporations are?"
To be sure, completely unregulated industry is bad. A corporation will happily compensate workers as little as possible and charge their customers as much as they can get away with. But corrupt, overmighty government is much, much worse, as they have the authority of the state behind it.
Russia doesn't have these problems because they are unwilling to regulate their industries. Russia has these issues because the government enforces its rules selectively based on polictical favor rather than the rule of law. What use is a law if your regulator sees bribes as a second source of income and the judiciary is more concerned with prosecuting whistleblowers than corruption?
BS. Although corporations are treated largely as a person, they are not, and therefore do not have such emotions. The origins of this statement are Karl Marx.
Corporations are servants of the stockholders, to whom they must turn a profit and increase the value of the company. The reality is that those that take advantage of people don't survive because anyone of any value will leave for a position that treats them appropriately.
Capitalism is about a balance of greed that can only be destroyed IF portrayed as limitless greed.
You should read the and understand "The Wealth of Nations". It is the best antidote for Marxist poisons.
I'm sympathetic to your POV, DB, but I believe you're mistaken here.
Those that do this CAN survive, if they exist in an environment in which the authority of government is complicit in this abuse. That is the case in authoritarian regimes such as Russia and China, which still have abundant supplies of cheap, unskilled labor.
The abuses we see on display are neither the product of Marxist ideology or unrestrained capitalism, but an intractable alliance between the authority of government and big businesses.
Corporations make profits. Governments write and enforce laws. Once they start venturing into each others' territories, bad things tend to happen.
Well?.........Ya just can't take that ol' Gulag mentality out of the Russians can ya?
With a self promoting egotistical chest puffing Putin as the new Russian Tzar, old propensities die hard in the land of the barefooted field plowing peasants and the super rich well connected hierarchy. Certainly the 'ol Communist sickle slinging shoe slammers of the sixties ain't what they used to be but, what the Hell, the new mix of Capitalism sprinkled into the ol' chronic Communist dogma seems to work........for the well to do anyway.
Corporate greed is a worldwide problem.Leave it to government,Russia in this case,to sweep the problem under the rug.This is tantamount to slave labor and should not be tolerated nor be acceptable to any human being.
To be fair, "Corporate Greed" did not create the Gulags in the USSR, rather it was "Communist Greed". Communist Greed have no regard to the workers as these projects are run by Communist Pro-KGB Putin Friends.
This isn't a case of "corporate" greed. This is just plain greed, indistinguishable from any other sort. And the government isn't sweeping it under the rug, it's entirely complicit.
You're onto something SF, it is just greed and when the government officials get kickbacks their incentive is to silence the issue, in any country.
You don't want to work for free for that company, you're deported by the government.
Well American Sweat Shop has arrived. WOW
What does America have to do with this?
FIFA should take note, cancel their selection of Russia to host the 2018 World Cup. After all, they got the "selection" solely through bribery (as did Qatar 2022). FIFA need to start the whole selection process for the 2018 & 2022 World Cups as many more qualified cities were overlooked for their less or no bribing of FIFA Officials.
They still have the Communists under Putin running the project, OF COURSE, there is no regard to the workers.
Helpless situation for these workers. ...........
I would be afraid to enter these buildings.
What of all the volunteers to help pick up the slack.
I'm more worried about shoddy workmanship and potential accidents at the Olympics occurring because of the conditions that these workers are being subjected to. An unhappy and pissed off unmotivated worker is not going to do his best work.
Forget the political bickering.
The Big Corporations are making all the money and pay their workers nothing. In the United States the big corporations receive the bailouts, the tax breaks (or no taxes), and regulations to put small businesses out of business. The tax increases for small companies that make over $400K or have more than 50 employees are being hit hard by ObamaCare Taxes, the latest tax increases, along with increased regulations that other countries do not have, and which the big corporations simply pay fines that would destroy a small business. Not only do our small businesses have to contend with the taxes and increased regulations, but must also compete against lower priced goods from companies in China and India that have much lower wages, fewer regulations (if any) and taxes. Obama wants us to be like China, lower wages, decreased health care for all, and no dissension.
Well, that's a rather uncommon complaint about the administration. Obama: champion of big corporations. At least you're original.
Government will always protect the interests of the powerful and the elite because they are staffed by the powerful and the elite (and frankly, it's better than the alternative). The only way to reduce the effect is to limit the power of government to keep its hands out of the affairs of the citizens as much as possible.
We should protest as a country against these conditions and refuse to send our team there. It would be extremely hypocritical of our media to televise these games.
Let's see. $51 billion project cost. Zero labor cost. No competitive bidding for contracts. Typical Russian business model.
surely the workers have heard of this, just walk out and leave them high and dry, see if those crooks would pick up those hammers and shovels themselves. you keep staying there even after months of no pay, of course we won't pay you coz then you'd leave after we pay you... idiot.....
Russia is a fairly rich country and has a large influx of immigrant workers. Furthermore, people who put up with these conditions for months before quitting typically don't have many other options. I'm sure they have a great many new workers waiting to replace those that quit, surely unaware of what they're getting into.
very sad to see people being taken advantage of regardless of any particular criteria. I keep reading negative articles here and there about the Olympics and the detrimental effects that it has on the surrounding community. Every time I read those articles it causes me to want to watch the games less and less as my own personal boycott figuring at least I'm not supporting the corporate sponsors. It's unfortunate because I usually enjoy watching the international competition but how can I enjoy something when I know the harm that it causes other people...same as why I try not to by products (if I can help it) from the same type of nations/corporations.
it's Russia...what do you expect??
Chinese companies also hold months of wages of their employees, so they won't leave. If an employee complains, the Chinese Military solves the problem using "vigorous attitude adjustment" techniques on the disgruntled employee. A Chinese worker at a company that makes Apple products recently experienced attitude adjustment at the hands of the military.
We have 'businessmen' in this country doing the same thing. A Mexican landscaper told me he had
worked for a company in L.A. Co. that would hire undocumented laborers to work on large commercial
landscaping jobs, like the perimeter of a new housing development. Work them all week and then when
Friday/payday came along the owner would call the I.N.S. and make a complaint and a bus and team
would pull up and the workers would run and he could get a weeks worth of work done for free, by
telling the I.N.S. officers that he didn't know they were illegal and was surprised ............
Man, even with near-slave labor and zero government concern for the work site, Russia STILL can't build these facilities for cheap? What a country.
C'mon guys, take a cue from China: if you're going to work your employees to death for almost (or in some cases, literally) nothing, at least pass the savings on to the customer!
Not going to the games, not watching them either.
Come on now, let's not act like every four years I'm supposed to act like I'm patriotic by watching my countrymen doing winter sports.
I will not go out of my way to support this kind of exploitation.
Next time someone complains about America, send them a link to this story...
Finally someone made a comment about some action we can take.
Show the russians and the world we care. Ignore the games. We should not attend.
The russians have no respect for human life. Our athletes are in it for their own glory and the deals they
can make to earn money after. Why support either self serving purpose.
This has nothing to do with communism or capitalism or any other social structure. This has everything to do with huge corruption and exploitation in that country. Russia is actually a mafia run state, sponsored by the government. They purposely get labor from poor countries to be able to exploit these workers and packet as much money as they can for themselves.
Another blemish for the International Olympic Committee. The organization is made up of executives of large corporations, which by and large oppose unions and workers rights. Recently, U.S uniforms were allowed to be made in China despite general knowledge that unemployment in USA was sky-high at the time. They really don't give a c___p about workers, whether in Russia, China or USA.
Really? That's your example? Putting aside that ~10% unemployment is hardly "sky-high" by international standards, that's not a matter of workers' rights or union-busting; they're just buying the uniforms where they're cheapest.
That said, it's true that the IOC's reluctance to confront these types of abuses in pursuit of national prestige for host countries shows a shameful level of indifference to the disruption that Olympic games can have on a country. They'll take any excuse to brush off complaints to avoid political complications, and I for one don't think that's okay.
The olympic committee like the UN are worthless and corrupt.
What, you only like the NRA or some other group of thugs here? You should go back to looking out your window for the black helicopters. And yes, you're a rube.
Completely shocked! Would have never thought they would abuse human rights.
DUH! Are you kidding. And to think we owe them everything including our underwear.
The Olympic committee should look into this and if it is true they sh
ould move the games.
Russia hasn't changed much, from one exploitative regime to another exploitative regime--unbroken chain regardless of political name--prior to Ivan the Terrible to Putin, that's what and who the Russians are, can't help themselves. Have no intention of watching the games or patronizing any sponsor that aids and abets.
The Olympic games belong in Greece.