Lin:
When I was working in China, I found out through an employment agency that the working conditions in the Netherlands were good and salaries were high. So I decided to come to work in the Netherlands. I spent a lot of money to go through the paperwork in order to come here, and the agency fees costed about 100,000 yuan (€13,000).
Before leaving for the Netherlands, the employment agency said that the salary was about €1600. Although my work contract stated the legal minimum wage, the wages I received were much lower. Moreover, the boss told me about the difference in pay two days after I arrived in the Netherlands and when i had already started working. My boss paid me €800 per month in cash in the first 6 months. The boss also threatened me that if I was dissatisfied with it, I could always go back to China. I didn’t know how things worked here at the time, I didn’t understand the language, furthermore I had owed so much debt at home. Out of helplessness, I accepted this unfair treatment and continued to work.
I must say I regretted as soon as I came to the Netherlands. I felt cheated, however I had no choice but to submit to my situation and work for this boss for three years. I think it was all a trap. My working conditions were completely different from what I was promised while in China. I had to do everything in the restaurant – wash dishes, cut vegetables, cook and so on. I worked at the restaurant minimum 10 hours a day and six days a week. I had no sick leave and I was only allowed one day off a week.
My impression of the Netherlands was very good before coming here. But the image completely changed as soon as i arrived. I thought the hygiene standard in the restaurant where i worked was much worse than in China. When I expressed my honest opinion to my boss, he became resentful. He picked on me and bullied me for being outspoken. In addition, the boss often scolded me, slapped me, and punch me with his fist. I was helpless and couldnt fight back. My family did not know the humiliation that I had to suffer in the Netherlands because I never told them the truth. I didnt want them to worry about them so I had to bear everything on my own.
When I finally paid off my debt, I really couldn’t stand it anymore. One day I had an argument with my boss, the boss hit me again, so I left. The abuse and unkind treatments from my boss not only left me with a lot of health problems, but also emotional scars. After leaving the restaurant, it took me a year to heal myself, physically and emotionally.
Chen:
In the 60s life was hard in HK, and I had many siblings in my family so I started working when I was 14 years old. I worked as an all-rounder in a restaurant. The paid was very low.
Since I had some families in Netherlands, I decided to borrow some money and come to the Netherlands. I decided to leave my country because I wanted to expand my horizon of the outside world. When I arrived in the early 1970s, I was still a teenager. I worked as an undocumented worker for about 5 years. The work conditions were bad and salary was up to the mercy of the boss.
At that time, there were lots of undocumented workers, we were never caught by the immigration office. It was also very easy to find a job then, because businesses in restaurants were doing well. Eventually one of my bosses helped me to apply for a residency here. When I became legal, my pay also increased.
My plan was to go back home after some years because it was really hard work then. Everyday and especially during busy days, we had to fry 30-40 big pots of rice and noodles. We worked non-stop from 9am to 10-11pm. We worked 6 days per week and only got one day off. There were other no benefits. But once a while, if the boss had a good mood, he would bring us to movies.
When I met my wife and we got married, I finally decided to settle down in Holland.
What is conflicting is that the work conditions in Chinese restaurants in Holland are worse than the employment conditions in Asia or China. Even though there is a provision for good labor conditions in Holland, most Chinese restaurants are applying their own rules. In Asia, if you work more than 8 hours, you get compensated for the extra hours you work, but here you work systematically overtime and yet no reward or compensation. So I think the Asian employment conditions are better than in Chinese restaurants in Holland.
How can we change this systematic exploitation of workers? I think we have to wait for the next generation. This is a very tricky problem and one that is complicated to resolve.
Most bosses, before applying for a work visa for their Chinese employees, will offer their potential employees a take-it or leave-it option. Unless they are willing to accept the compromised work conditions and reduced pay, the boss will not go ahead with the work visa application.
Now I look back my life, I have no regrets coming to the Netherlands, I also don’t think there is a right or wrong decision anymore. I don’t really have any specific dreams. All I want is to have a simple life. After all, the more dreams we have the more likely we get disappointed.
Now I also wish to have a good health. I know many people who have worked in the kitchen suffer from occupational injuries. I have overworked all these years and it has an impact on my body and overall health.
I also don’t envy the lives of other people, even if they may be very well off. They may have put in tremendous amount of hard work and investments that outsiders do not see. We all have our own lives.
Chou:
When we came to the Netherlands, the only jobs available for us were in Chinese restaurants. I had never worked in a kitchen in China and honestly it is not a job I like. But that was the only choice I had.
For my first job in the Netherlands, my pay was as low as 600 euros per month. From the 600 euros, my boss deducted 500 euros from it. So in the end I was left with 100 euros pocket money to spend and to pay for my health insurance. This lasted 3 years. In the beginning I thought it cost my employer a lot of money to apply for my work visa and therefore I had to pay back by having my salary deducted every month. I thought it was a normal practice in Chinese restaurants. Only much later that I realised my situation was exceptional and my boss was earning money by employing me.
I have signed a contract with my boss but not knowing the language, I had no idea what was stated in the contract. I worked six days a week and had one day off. I didn’t have any annual leave and did not know I had a right to have it. I worked in that restaurant for 5 years and I didn’t take a single day of annual leave. Sick leave was also unpaid. It was out of the question to ask for better work conditions like other Dutch people, because the boss would tell you to go and find another job elsewhere. Anyway, I can only describe my first 5 years in the Netherlands as miserable.
I was homesick in the early days because I had made the sacrifice to leave my families behind and yet I could hardly make ends meet. Every morning I woke up, all I thought about was to go home.
Before coming here, my aim was to earn money and improve the lives of my family in China. Otherwise I wouldn’t have I left my young kids and parents behind to start a new life here.
If I look back now, despite the hardship, I have no regrets. However, it is more complicated now to go back home especially my kids have recently joined in Holland. The pace of life is so fast in China that I won’t be able to keep up. In addition, since I have no capital for investments in China, I can only find a job and I don’t know what I can do there. Besides, I do not have the energy to start a new life again.
My dream is for my kids to grow up, find a stable job here, then I will go back with my wife to China and to look after my parents. I still think life is better there. Due to my long working hours, I don’t have time to make friends so life here can be quite isolated. The language barrier is also a problem, if I need to manage something with the government or go to the hospital, I have to beg someone to help me.
A lot of Chinese migrants in the Netherlands cannot speak the language so I am grateful that Haags Welzijn can help us when needed. We hope the organisation will continue to stay to help chinese labour migrants here.
Ching:
There were lots of Chinese (undocumented) labour migrants in the Netherlands in the 1990s.After the economic reform in China, many Chinese people wanted to take the opportunity to earn more money overseas. We hoped to improve our lifestyle in China and to give a better lives to our future generations. This is the traditional thinking of many Chinese people.
At that time, Chinese believed that western countries were better than China and we could earn money for our families.
I came to the Netherlands through labour migration. I had no experience working in the kitchen in China. In the beginning I was working as a helper in the kitchen. In the early days, it was tough working in the kitchen. I worked 11 hours a days and six days a week and I still had to put up with the bosses and chefs. Language barrier also posed a big problem for me. Since our bosses were from Canton, being able to speak basic Cantonese was prerequisite to working in the kitchen.
I haven’t seen my family and children since I left for the Netherlands. I miss them dearly. I sent all my hard earn money to China and supported my kids to study in an university overseas.
I have never regretted coming here, even though I had a difficult life. Once a decision is made, you can only march forward and there is no choice of turning back.
My dream was to give my next generation a better future and I think that my dream has come true.I feel positive about my own future in the Netherlands. There is a good social security system and the government takes good care of the elderly. I have worked for a few decades and finally I can take a slower pace now.
Hu:
Many Chinese chefs actually do not have contact with the outside world at all. Their network is limited to only the people with whom they work. Some have been in the Netherlands for a long time, but they hardly speak a word of Dutch. If they encounter problems, they think that endurance is the only solution. They do not know better.
Zhang:
I am a Chinese cook and have been working in the Netherlands for several years. I am no longer working because I suffered physical injury for more than a year. When I was in China, I dreamed of earning a little money in the Netherlands. I did not expect I would be beaten up by a boss and that my body would suffer injury as a result of it. For me, an application to work on a contract basis has been made for me by a temp agency for Chinese chefs.
The first thing that happened to me in the Netherlands was that I had a disagreement with the boss, because he asked me to pick up leftovers eggs, potatoes, chicken drumsticks, etc. from previous customers to prepare for new customers. From that moment on, I was often beaten by the boss. I worked more than 60 hours every week, but did not even get half of the wages mentioned on the contract. The boss said: “You can not speak the Dutch language here. You can not work anywhere else. ”
I hoped the employment agency would come to check the workplace. In the end, they only visited me once in the few years that I worked there. Moreover, they did not even ask about my working hours and the wages. They only looked at my personal documents.
Later I was beaten by the boss again and I could not take it anymore so I called the police. I also hired a lawyer because I did not understand Dutch. I do not know why my lawyer told me that I had resigned myself. In fact, I was beaten by my boss and was kicked out. I also said this during the interrogation.
I do not understand how Dutch government officials think. After the abuse, I have to take medication every day. I wonder what the future is for me?
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