Vol. 71/No. 12 March 26, 2007
‘Guest’ workers at U.S. farms superexploited
Attorneys in the case say the workers were enticed to pay thousands of dollars to recruiters in Thailand and Indonesia, working on behalf of “guest worker” employment outfits in North Carolina, in hopes of getting jobs on farms in the state. Upon arriving in the United States many were not offered any jobs. Others only worked a few hours a week.
The cases are examples of the deplorable treatment and exploitation of foreign-born workers under the government’s much touted “guest worker” program.
The suits were filed by Legal Aid of North Carolina. “The workers are asking for lost wages and transportation costs,” Lori Elmer told the Militant. “Workers paid as much as $11,000 in transportation costs and fees to recruiters.” Elmer is the chief attorney of the group’s farm workers unit.
The workers are also asking for damages and other forms of relief for violations of their rights under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, Trafficking Victims Protections Act, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act, and North Carolina common law, said Elmer.
Rice farmer Worawut Khansamrit earned $500 a year on his farm in Thailand. He put his land up as collateral to cover transportation expenses and recruiters’ fees. Khansamrit was among 30 workers from Thailand who departed for the United States on Aug. 25, 2005. Upon arrival in North Carolina, labor contractor Million Express Manpower confiscated their passports and return plane tickets.
Two months later the workers were informed that there was no more work for them in North Carolina. They had been promised earnings of $16,000 a year for three years. They ended up earning $1,400 to $2,400 total.
While in North Carolina the workers were initially housed in hotels that had been inspected and certified by the state’s labor department, with three workers to a room. Later they were moved into fewer rooms that each housed five workers. Finally they were moved to crowded outbuildings behind the home of the Million Express Manpower president. Their food rations were cut, the workers said, leaving them hungry. They were threatened with arrest and deportation it they attempted to flee.
After two months, the workers were sent to New Orleans to do cleanup and construction work. They were housed in a condemned hotel without electricity or water, and never paid for any work done.
Indra Budiawan is among three Indonesian workers suing the GTN Employment Services. Each of them paid $6,000 in transportation costs and contractor fees after being promised three years employment on North Carolina farms. Budiawan put up his family’s ancestral lands as collateral. As with the Thai workers, their passports and return tickets were confiscated upon their arrival.
Two of the Indonesian workers were not offered work at all and the third only minimal amounts. All three were housed at a GTN warehouse where they had to share a bare mattress on the floor. When the workers asked to leave, GTN’s head, Leeta Kang, demanded $2,000 more from them in order to return their passports and plane tickets. After two weeks without any work, Budiawan escaped to Miami.
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