The Militant - December 25, 2000 -- Sheepherders in Colorado charge employer with inhumane treatment

Vol.64/No.49 December 25, 2000

Sheepherders in Colorado charge employer with inhumane treatment

BY JAN MILLER
GRAND JUNCTION, Colorado--Sheepherders working on a ranch in northwest Colorado have filed complaints with the U.S. Department of Labor for being denied adequate food, water, and bathroom facilities and for suffering physical abuse at the hands of their employer. The complaint also says workers' passports and pay have been withheld.

On September 25 the Department of Labor filed civil charges against the rancher, John Peroulis and his sons, Louis Peroulis and Stan Peroulis. The Moffat Country Sheriffs office reported it has received complaints about the Peroulises from herders since 1992.

According to documents from the U.S. district court in Denver, the Labor Department's inspectors found that the Peroulises "have been mistreating, and continue to mistreat their H-2A herders." The documents cite several charges, including "abuse, confiscating herders' documents, preventing the herders from communicating with their families by telephone, withholding or destroying some of the herders' mail, and retaliating against herders who complained or supplied investigators with information regarding complaints." To date the judge has not ruled on the case.

The sheepherders are mainly from Peru and Mexico. They are working in this country under the Immigration and Reform Control Act, known as the H-2A program. The law is crafted to have non-U.S. citizens fill specific agricultural jobs as long as farmers show they can't find U.S. citizens to do the work.

According to John Bartlett, regional certification officer for the Labor Department, about 602 Colorado ranchers applied for H-2A herders and ranch hands this year. Under the program there is no limit as to how many workers the ranchers can request. Visas are issued by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and the Labor Department does not keep track of the number of herders in the state. Bartlett said that the sheepherders on the Peroulis ranch could not get to phones, and if they did call the INS or other government agencies there were no Spanish-speaking agents for them to speak to. Bartlett described the complaint system for H-2A workers as so difficult that "a normal human being would go crazy trying to get through."

Carlos Velasco, the Peruvian consul general in Denver, also talked to the sheepherders. They reported being hit, kicked, spat on, given only rotten meat to eat, and having no suitable drinking water and no toilets.

The H-2A program doesn't allow the Labor Department to pursue criminal charges for violations of work, housing, or pay rules. However, federal officials announced the INS and the FBI have told the judge they are considering filing criminal charges against the Peroulises. The attorney for the Peroulis family has indicated that they want to settle out of court and not have the case go to trial.

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