The video for today is about how the TM organizations and the Global Country of World Peace have been built and upheld by mostly uncompensated labor.
Again we emphasize that this demands a 3rd party independent investigation going back 40 years to find out what happened. It would not be enough to just investigate one location for example MIU or Seelisberg. Since the early 1990s, many staff members in Europe were from the poorer Eastern European countries. They were idealists and devotees of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. These individuals were taken in by the utopistic promises of Heaven on Earth and enlightenment after the fall of communism. They were idealistic and naive. The international TM organization took advantage of them.
After a couple of decades, these staff members are broken, bitter, and stuck in their dead-end staff jobs. Since many of the young idealists joined staff instead of building a career, they have no real work references to take back home. On the staff program, they performed duties in housing (cleaning rooms and toilets for example) or kitchen duty, and other duties, which cannot be used or transferred back to their home countries with any good value. Their work resumes would seem strange. Their salary history is pathetic. There are little or no records of them officially working for any organization in any way the rest of society can understand. Meanwhile, their home countries have advanced tremendously, but the staff members did not take part in it.
In a way, the TM organizations were very shrewd. They understood that the meager few hundred euros of cash stipend per month was just enough to entice these idealist workers from the Eastern European countries, and thus the TM organizations saved millions, perhaps even tens of millions of euros over the decades. The staff workers could be sent home at any time, without any real fear of legal hassle. They belong to no unions and often do not understand the laws enough. Their Eastern European homes (Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, etc..…) were far away, with completely different legal systems, and lawyers at home who couldn’t deal with any employment-related problems.
We at RajaLeaks have created a “staff de-application” form, via our contacts in those countries, and we are trying to assemble a class action lawsuit. We are trying to locate a few of those former staff members, and find out details of what happened that can be documented. Yes, you read that right! This staff situation, the financial abuse, is worthy of a lawsuit. Simple questions could be posed. Can you present me with your staff employment agreement? Did you not have a staff employment agreement? Can you provide me with bank statements proving you received a salary or a cash payout receipt? Can you provide evidence that your employer paid your retirement taxes, and submitted reports to the government(s) about how many months and years you worked there? What were the minimum wage laws during your employment and how much did you get in cash or into your bank? How much did the TM organizations deduct from your salary for food and accommodations? Were you aware of these deductions and did you get a monthly statement about this tax or other deductions?
So far, what we found out makes us disgusted with the TM organization’s staff programs. The utopistic naivety of spiritual seekers should not lead to financial abuse. These individuals deserve better. They deserve retroactive compensation for their work. What gets us mad, is the unrealistically low pay for staff, along with the news about the billions of dollars of assets in the Indian TM movement that Maharishi’s relatives are handling. Here in the West, the figures are in the hundreds of millions of dollars the TM-related foundations took in as donations over the last 15 years, yet I do not perceive any change in the staff program employment salaries. All of this needs to be laid out, and investigated properly.
So here is the music video for today: Uncompensated labor
Please also view the previous videos which can be found under the media: songs menu point.
(Verse)
Rajas of TM, your kingdom so high, Ignoring the pain, turning a blind eye, For decades, staff workers suffered in vain, Uncompensated labor, their lives in strain.
(Pre-Chorus)
Meager pay, trapped in a cycle they can’t break, Unable to leave or stay, their spirits ache, But we’re here to say, we’re looking in, To help them unite, a new chapter begins.
(Chorus)
Staff workers unite, let your voices be heard, Organize, stand tall, speak up for your worth, No more ignored, no more silent plight, Together we’ll fight for what is right.
(Verse)
Dedicated souls, working day and night, To the Global Country of World Peace’s light, But the kings, they look down, their worth dismissed, “It’s your karma,” they say, a cruel twist.
(Pre-Chorus)
Volunteers they may be, evolving on the way, But their labor deserves respect, we say, No longer silenced, no longer unseen, We’ll stand by their side, justice we’ll glean.
(Chorus)
Staff workers unite, let your voices be heard, Organize, stand tall, speak up for your worth, No more ignored, no more silent plight, Together we’ll fight for what is right.