один с сошкой, а семеро с ложкой

"Один с сошкой, а семеро с ложкой" is a Russian folk idiom that describes the situation where "many people feed on the work of one worker" or where "one over-worked worker goes under-appreciated"

Translated nearly word-for-word:

• один (odin) = one
• с сошкой (s soshkoy) = with plow
• а семеро (a semero) = but seven
• с ложкой (s lozhkoy) = with spoon(s) [to eat]

It rhymes in Russian so the English translation sounds somewhat mundane. Thus, a better translation would probably go something like:

"One does all the work, while all the others shirk!"

Oftentimes, many people (who do next to nothing) rely on one key person, who gets little to no appreciation!