Accepting and Contesting the Extra Workload

There are notable differences between manual workers and clerks in terms of the amount of workload imposed on them, and how they accept and/or contest it. Thus, it is necessary here also to split the analysis between the two groups.

Manual workers are asked to attend half an hour before the actual workday starts in order to perform a hand-over check-up, which involves transferring responsibilities to workers in the following shift. Nevertheless, there is an informal agreement between workers to avoid this policy. Workers are already not paid for spending almost an hour on the firm’s premises just to enter the refinery and register their attendance. Consequently, the 30-minute routine safety check is abandoned; at best, a 5-minute check is conducted when workers swap their work shifts. A Saudi technical worker said:

It takes about 45 minutes from the firm’s main gate to enter the refinery. We have two checkpoints inside the firm. From the first checkpoint till I park my car, it takes about half an hour. Then I have to take a bus for a 10-minute journey to the second checkpoint where I have to register my attendance. So, although I live in the same city, I have to leave home one and a half hours before the start of my shift. We have told the management that attendance should be registered at the first gate, but nothing has happened.

Unlike the shop-floor workers, supervisors generally accept to devote an extra half an hour unpaid, before and after the workday, and they seem to be dedicated to strictly monitoring workers’ attendance all day. A Saudi supervisor said:

Not literally I watch them, but I make sure that they don’t go out of the plant. For example, they have to ask for my permission if they want to go to the canteen.

Moreover, the most notable thing about the interviewed managers was that they barely admitted to any criticism of OilCo’s disciplinary policies, but rather they tended to polish OilCo’c image in almost every single aspect about which they were asked. It is apparent that supervisors have strong loyalty to the firm and are keen on enforcing the firm’s rules and regulations for reasons that could be related to many things, such as seeking promotion and income increase. Consequently, no obvious sign of resistance was observed among them, unlike the shop-floor workers.

Since manual workers experience a longer workday and do not enjoy the one-hour break that is given to their peers – the clerks - they have reorganised the work to take much more than the one-hour break of which that they are deprived. While a group of workers rest for 2 to 3 hours in an air-conditioned place, others stay in the refinery until they swap with each other. Consequently, this intense workload, as perceived by the manual workers, results in them abandoning many safety policies. A Saudi technical worker described the workload as follows:

If I want to literally follow the policies, then the workload here is unbearable for any human being. I bet that no one can follow the policy exactly whether a Saudi or a non-Saudi. I’m talking about the field here not the administration. Imagine that you come at 6:30 then you stay until 2:30 without having any break. Can’t you imagine the weather here in the summer?

In contrast, the interviews with office workers of different nationalities reveal that they generally do not perceive that they work under heavy pressure, but they show some forms of ‘misbehaviour’ in different capacities. An American clerk created his own abbreviation of (IMB) that he uses whenever he is asked about a work that he did not deliver. The IMB means Inshallah Maalish Bukrah, which are Arabic words meaning ‘Sorry, God willing, I will do it tomorrow’. It seems there is a tendency among the Westerners, compared to the rest, to directly avoid or delay a work whenever they believe it is worthless or unrealistic to do. A British clerk said:

It is difficult to say we have ever had a deadline. Deadlines don’t count. So they can say, ‘okay, we need this work in a week’. We know it cannot be done in a week, but it does not matter. Obviously, it is not done in a week and the boss may

go on holiday. Then, they want to see it and they look at it for two weeks; then eventually they do some changes and that process just goes on and on. There is a massive waste of time. … In real terms no implications if we did not finish a work on time.

Additionally, all the interviewed Westerners do not find a justifiable reason for offering the firm more than the official working time. They generally feel reluctant in terms of what they can practically achieve, compared to the effort they give. An American clerk stated:

In terms of what we actually end up accomplishing, I would say that I do in the month possibly what I would do in a day, and I cannot get more done. I can put more hours like most guys, but that would not help.

On the other hand, Saudis and non-Western expats do not show a notable misbehaviour as Westerners and Saudi manual workers do; rather, it is observed that some of them tend to overstay a couple of hours on almost a daily basis without being asked to. Those workers are dedicating more effort and seem to enjoy what they do. For example, a migrant and a Saudi are quoted as saying:

No one forces me to stay. It is me who want to spend some time here because I don’t have my family here. So, I don’t have to go back home… I don’t consider money to be a driving factor for me. (Indian worker)

We finish at 3:30 PM, but I don’t leave before 5:00 PM. If I leave before this time, it will not affect me. It is for the sake of my own satisfaction. (Saudi worker) Another element observed among the Saudis and the non-Westerners (clerks) that shows a high level of compliance is that they seem to surrender to their managers’ well, in terms of how the job should be done and when it should be delivered; nonetheless, they are unsatisfied with the extra work they are given. Those workers are not observed, nor are they classified by the interviewed managers, to be less disciplined than Westerners; rather they tend to avoid clashes and disagreements with their managers and prefer to be more obedient and accepting of their burdens. A Saudi clerk, who is managed by an Indian, stated:

My manager asks me to do things that are mostly not related to what I do. Also he does not allow me to do things in a different way. The first time you have to do it

his way. After you do it, then you can give him your suggestions. First, you have to listen to what he said. You cannot suggest before you do it as he told you to do. The findings up to this point only applies to OilCo’s manual and office workers. The following part establishes what is known about outsourced labour in terms of control and resistance, who are considered by OilCo’s employees themselves to be working under much harsher working conditions.