ALPERTON, ENGLAND: Indian stonemasons who were paid a mere US$0.96 an hour have won $160,000 in compensation from their employers. The 10 men, all from the same region in India, were working on the construction of a $11.2 million Sanatan Hindu temple in Alperton, North London. Their employers, Shirco Ltd, based in North London, have been ordered to pay the money to the workers following an investigation by the Inland Revenue. The pay, retroactive to their hire date, will bring their salaries up to the minimum wage of $5.92, which is only a fraction of the wage many qualified stonemasons earn. Enticed to work in Britain by promises of high wages the men had their passports taken from them on arrival. They were told that if they disobeyed they would be sacked and have to find their own way back to India. They lived in a shack on the temple site. One stonemason earned just $200 a month while working eight hours a day, six days a week. The case has disturbed many in Britain’s one million strong Hindu community.
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