More blatant discrimination against construction workers comes to light, this time prevailing wage violations across America

Kinda, sorta follow up to "Blatant discrimination! Another disposable worker death in New York's underground sweatshop construction industry" from Jan. 2007


ow do you under bid the union contractors?

By using a work force that does not understand the law of the land. This construction company forced it's largely Cantonese workers to work 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, with no overtime pay, no breaks and massive safety violations, on jobs that were publicly funded. That's right, if you live in Oakland, California, there's a good chance that the school you send your kids to was built with the help of the criminal activity of a few at the top, who profited on the backs of their workers, while screwing the contracting firms who obey the laws, the public who didn't get what they paid for and the workers who worked in pre-1900 conditions.

I thought the abuses of Chinese workers here in the United States sorta ended after the railroads were built, yes for those of you not well versed in history, from the "end of slavery" years of 1864 to 1867, on just one leg of the transcontinental railroad construction it is estimated that 1200-1300 Chinese workers died in that three year span. For more information on the atrocities against Chinese workers on the railroads there's a book written by William F. Chew, who is the grandson of two of the railroad workers. His book is called "Nameless Builders of the Transcontinental Railroad". Mr. Chew isn't just a bump on a log, he's a pretty smart fella, in his 45 year career as an aerospace engineer he created components that were critical for spacecraft travel.

So now back to our story, here in New York the homelands might be different but the story is the same, get workers new to the country and cheat the workers and the public out of their legally bound responsibility. Capitalism at it's finest. Screw everyone to get ahead.

Just two weeks ago it came to light that a local scumbag General Contractor pocketed $550,000 of public money which was supposed to go to his employees, according to The New York Times article from July 31st. entitled "Officials of Building Firm Accused of Cheating Workers and City ":

The officials, Yuly Aronson, owner of the May Construction Company, and Anthony Branca, the company’s accountant, ran their scheme from April 2005 through November 2006 during work on two dozen city buildings and courthouses, according to Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo.

They were charged in Manhattan Criminal Court with falsifying payroll filings to receive roughly $2 million from the Department of Citywide Administrative Services for employee wages and withholdings, of which Mr. Aronson, 46, and Mr. Branca, 50, ended up pocketing about $550,000 that was supposed to go toward the salaries of 84 workers, the attorney general said.

Here's the how to screw your work force part:

May Construction lured many of its employees with an advertisement in the Polish-language newspaper Nowy Dziennik, according to the attorney general’s office. Most of the company’s workers were secured through those advertisements and were each paid the minimum of the prevailing wage, even though the jobs they were doing required they be paid higher wages, the attorney general’s office said.

The good news, if convicted, according to New York State's Attorney General Andrew Cuomo:

“Contractors on public works projects should be warned: Obey the law and pay the prevailing wage, or face the consequences,” Mr. Cuomo said in a statement.

Mr. Aronson and Mr. Branca face several charges including grand larceny. If convicted, they could spend up to 15 years in prison.

So that's the story of how Polish immigrants are getting screwed on prevailing wage violations here in New York, let's get back to what transpired in Oakland, California, it took a Cantonese speaking organizer working with the International Brotherhood Of Electrical Workers (IBEW Local 595) to bring the violations to light and that's a good thing. Here's some snips from the East Bay Business Times, from the August 12th. story entitled "Former employees sue Oakland contractor NBC General":

NBC General Contractors Corp., an Oakland construction company that is working on several publicly funded projects in the city’s downtown, has been hit with a lawsuit filed by former employees seeking millions of dollars for prevailing-wage, overtime, meal break and safety violations.

Sounds like your average non-union construction company nowadays, sometimes it's Chinese, sometimes it's Guatemalan's, Mexican's, whoever they can screw and threaten the best. The less they are allowed to speak up, the less they know about US labor law, the more they can be screwed, but enough of my ranting, the story continues:

NBC General became the subject of the organization’s scrutiny because some contractors perceived its bids on projects were often lower than others and that prompted questions about whether its books truly reflected hours worked, said the partnership’s Alameda County compliance officer, Andreas Cluver. The union group wasn’t able to investigate efficiently, however, until it made contact with a Cantonese-speaking organizer who understood the language and culture of many of the NBC General workers.

That's the way to do it fellas, IBEW did exactly what needs to be done, just because the workers did not speak English, did not mean they were stupid, they just needed someone to explain to them their rights. How bad were these workers treated, heres more:

The suit filed July 17 in Alameda Superior Court seeks to represent a group of what is probably about 150 workers who worked on NBC General projects for a period of four years, from July 2004 to the present, said plaintiff attorney Sharon Seidenstein. A judge would have to grant class-action status.

“The company is working on prevailing-wage jobs and they are not paying the prevailing wage,” said Seidenstein. “They are also working them extremely long hours; for instance, during the summer the workers are alleged to be working 12-hour days, seven-day weeks, with no overtime.”

Also named in the complaint is J.H. Fitzmaurice Inc., the Emeryville-based firm that is the general contractor for the Fox Courts housing project.

It is unclear how much plaintiffs will recoup if they prevail, although Seidenstein said it could be “millions.”

Cluver stated that he had calculated about $6.6 million in underpayments to workers, based solely on his calculations and not taking into account any penalties a court might issue.

Monica Mui Ung, president and CEO of Oakland-based NBC General, and J.H. Fitzmaurice, did not immediately return telephone calls seeking comment on Tuesday.

I just hope the owners of these companies in NY and CA see the inside of jail, they really deserve it. One can only wonder how badly they treat workers on non-prevailing wage jobs, but you can see that in my first article entitled "Blatant discrimination! Another disposable worker death in New York's underground sweatshop construction industry"

Immigration: the wedge issue of the labor movement

This country is delving deeper into the 3rd. world as anyone is allowed to enter here illegally without penalty, and until recently one of the only times ICE, our Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, has raided a work place it was in the middle of a union organizing drive. Here's just a few facts to ponder.

In Iowa, ICE raided AgriProcessors, the countries largest Kosher meat packing plant and found almost 400 illegal alien workers, reports of weapons and get this, a Crystal Meth lab! There were over 60 underage workers at the plant, the youngest of which was 13 years old.

In California, a pregnant Mexican teenager died on a California vineyard, she wasn't allowed to have water! 5 more immigrant farmworkers in California have died in the fields since.

In New York, undocumented immigrant construction workers were threatened with guns if they decided to join a union. On other sites workers are told to say that if hurt at work, they are to report the injury as happening on the soccer field. On a nearby house getting remodeled I asked the owner of a construction company why he only gave his Guatemalan workers doing siding one plank for each teir of the 32 foot high scaffold, he told me they were like monkeys, they would be OK. I could go on about New York, about how when Fresh Direct, the internet supermarket was raided by ICE right in the middle of a NLRB wait period for a unionization vote. But lets get to the legal issues that are encouraging more illegal immigration, the laws against working rights and the laws that are helping to fracture labor protections. Here's two I reported on recently. Oh yeah, by the way they are both in Right to work states.

Kansas, a state in this United States, has passed a bill through it's Senate that will exclude punishment for the employers of undocumented workers, but would fine a union who lets the worker into it's ranks. You got that? They do not blame the employers and they want to stop anyone from helping the workers.

Utah, there is now a law which will exclude an injured worker from getting Workmans Compensation who has committed any crime, BUT the law does not hold the company responsible for hiring the illegal immigrant, nor will their premimum go up. Now theres a couple of great places to open up business.

To Be Continued, what I've been up to lately

I can continue with this but I really need some rest, you may have noticed I have been writing scarcely recently at Joe's Union Review, there's just so much to write about and so little time lately, I too have a full time job and I'm teaching an apprentice in my trade, it's an honor and a privilege to help her in her career, I was a little concerned that I might not have been ready to train someone, but I'm doing my best, she is my union brother (talk about a weird line) and it's important.

Something you may want to check out

Just in case you don't read Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal, you may have missed the news of the meeting they had with their workers that threatened that if Obama were to be elected President, that there would be almost nothing standing in the way of the Employee Free Choice Act getting passed, which would of course pave the way for those damned unions to corrupt the wonderful working environment that their workers currently enjoy by giving them a fighting chance to seek collective bargaining representation. Was it illegal what they did? Was Wal-Mart being a good employer and informing their workers about the candidates or did they threaten them as to how they should vote?

Here's a little fact that slipped through the media unreported, Wal-Mart was recently sued by none other than the US Dept. Of Justice, why would you ask? They refused to rehire a returning veteran in their Florida store. That's right, Wal-Mart, that great American franchise said a big F you to someone who went out and risked their life for them. They of course settled for $12,000 out of court.

Wal-Mart is most likely a big contributor to the organizations against The Employee Free Choice Act, but I'll have more on that soon. As American Right's At Work puts it:

What Wal-Mart is doing for November's political elections is what it, and hundreds of other anti-union companies, do all the time when workers say they want a union: intimidating them to go against their own self-interests.

The most ironic part of this news is that Wal-Mart's political ally, the Chamber of Commerce, sees itself as "David" versus the supposed "Goliath" of unions in the fight for the Employee Free Choice Act.

"This is a David-and-Goliath confrontation, but we believe we'll have enough stones in the sling to knock this out," said Mr. Steven Law, chief legal officer of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Maybe, if David first set up a front group to defame Goliath with a $30 million television advertising campaign before he loaded up his slingshot.

I'll write some more on this soon, but for now,

Peace, have a great weekend

Joe

Stop the senseless deaths on the California farms, 5 more deaths in the fields since the underage pregnant girl

On June 3rd. I wrote Underage and pregnant Mexican teen dies on California vinyard, seems not much has changed.

You can help the California farm workers get to Sacramento by donating for their bus trip to California. This comes from fellow labor communicator TomP over at DailyKos.

Six California farm workers have died since May from what appears to be heat related causes. The latest one was Maria De Jesus Alvarez, 63, mother of nine, who died early this month. The first one to die was 17-year-old Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez, who died in May. Marie was about a month pregnant when she died, and likely did not ever know she was pregnant. The state fined the labor contractor $262,700 for failing to follow heat illness prevention regulations at the time Jimenez was stricken, but that won't bring her back. And the deaths have continued at an accelerated pace since then.

You can help to end this tragedy. This Monday, August 18, more than 800 farm workers from throughout California want to go to Sacramento to lobby the Legislature on a key bill that will help them help themeselves. They want the chance to tell the Governor and their elected officials to support AB 2386, "Secret Ballot Elections for Farmworkers," which has moved out of the assembly and which will be voted on that afternoon in the state senate.

I have been writing for months on the deaths of farm workers in California from the heat. Six farm workers deaths are being or have been investigated because of heat-related causes since May.

This brings to 15 the number of farm workers whose death have been investigated as heat-related since Governor Schwarzenegger took office.

You can learn more details of this continuing tragedy in these diaries:

Sixth Farm Worker Dies from the Heat this Summer in California. A Call for Action.

Another Farm Worker dies. Does anyone give a damn? The Netroots Do.

United Farm Workers Calls for Manslaughter Charges Against Company in Death of 17 Year Old

How many Farmworkers must die before someone cares??

Please Tell Fallen Farm Worker's Family We Care

"How much is the life of a farm worker worth? Is it less than the life of any other human being?"

As UFW President Arturo S. Rodriguez said at the funeral of 17-year-old Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez:

How much is the life of a farm worker worth? Is it less than the life of any other human being?

The state has fined the labor contractor for whom Maria Isabel worked:

Atwater-based Merced Farm Labor, the contractor investigated in the death of Lodi teen Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez last spring, was fined $262,700 by the state [in July] for failure to follow heat illness prevention regulations at the time Jimenez was stricken.

Jimenez, a 17-year-old pregnant farm laborer, collapsed May 14 in a Farmington vineyard operated by West Coast Grape Farming and died two days later. Her death from heatstroke was ruled an occupational death by the San Joaquin County coroner.

State fines labor firm over death

In honor of Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez, the march from Lodi, CA to Sacramento State Capitol, June 4, 2008:

Since then, five more farm workers have died from what appears to be heat-related causes.

August 2, 2008: Maria de Jesus Alvarez.

July 31, 2008: Jorge Herrera.

July 9, 2008: Ramiro Carrillo Rodriguez.

July 9, 2008: Abdon Felix Garcia.

June 20, 2008: Jose Macrena Hernandez.

Farm worker dies in Santa Maria, California. Television news report on the death of Jose Macrena Hernandez:

These deaths make it clear the state does not have the capacity to protect farm workers. With all the budget cuts and other issues in California now, the state, even if well intentioned, simply has not been able to protect these workers. So they must protect themselves.

We can make a difference and it will not take much.

The vital legislation that Speaker Emeritus Nunez has introduced--and the workers want to go to Sacramento and lobby for--protects farm workers' right to a secret ballot election and will make it easier for farm workers to organize and enforce the laws that the state cannot enforce.

Please TAKE ACTION TODAY and ask California legislatures to support this vital bill..

If you can't attend please make a donation to help the United Farm Workers rent 14 buses, additional vans, plus pay for food and other supplies which will cost in excess of $31,770 for the day.

There is nothing more powerful than hearing a farm worker story face-to-face, especially to lawmakers.

Doroteo Jimenez, grape worker and uncle of 17-year-old Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez who died in May explains why she must go to Sacremento.

I want to go to Sacramento and speak to the legislators.

My niece Maria Isabel died because growers treat us like tools instead of like people. I spoke up and I was unjustly fired. This needs to change now. I don't want to see other families suffer like our family has. This bill can change farm workers' lives for the better.

Please help us.

Margarita Hernandez, grape worker knows that that there must be changes in the workplace:

The reason for me to go to Sacramento is because I want changes in the working conditions at my job and the other companies. In the place where I work, Sun Pacific, we don't have shade and the drinking water is without ice until 9 am—though they know that by that hour it is already hot.

There have been people have felt sick from the heat and the company people always ask if they feel bad because of something they ate...

I feel there is no respect for the farm worker, even though many farm workers have died. The companies don't change their treatment towards the farm workers. That is why I am going to Sacramento. I have the hope that one day, we will be treated better.

Just to rent the buses and vans needed, will cost $26,570 and that does not cover the food and other supplies needed.

The UNF hopes that internet supporters would contribute $5,510 towards this expense. This will cover the transportation costs of 140 workers at $39.36 per worker. Let's show them that Daily Kos can do it and more!

Can you make sure Doroteo, Margarita and others get seats on the bus?

When the union is strong, growers and labor contractors follow the California heat regulations, and lives can be saved. This bill is key to growing the union and, literally, saving lives.

Where farm workers are protected by union contracts, the laws are honored.

And when growers know it is easier for farm workers to organize and bring in the union, employers are much more careful about obeying the law because they don’t want to give the union an advantage.

So the answer, sisters and brothers, is self-help—making it easier for farm workers to organize so the laws on the books are the laws in the fields. Then more important human beings like Maria Isabel won’t have to die.

Remarks by Arturo S. Rodriguez, President, United Farm Workers of America, Honoring Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez, June 4, 2008

Please help.

Please TAKE ACTION TODAY and ask California legislatures to support this vital bill.

If you can't attend please make a donation to help the United Farm Workers rent 14 buses, additional vans, plus pay for food and other supplies which will cost in excess of $31,770 for the day.

Yesterday we mourned,
Today we act,
Tomorrow we will gain justice.

Si, Se Puede!

NY: Nonunion construction, workers win back wages for unpaid overtime, why are companies like this allowed to stay in business?

“New York’s construction workers are the backbone of this city’s economy, but these companies sought to stiff almost 300 Bronx construction workers out of the overtime pay they earned and deserve,” - Andrew Cuomo, NYS Attorney General

Unreal, they will do anything to do the job as cheap as humanly possible, from hiring undocumented workers to not paying overtime, could you imagine how they cut corners on the building materials? Using employees with little or no training and little or no workplace voice, they are killing our area standards. I could go on and on about the reasons to use union and/or quality construction companies, who play by the rules, but I must go to sleep sometime

Found this over at Gangbox, a big thanks to Steven Greenhouse at the New York Times for writing articles of substance for working class people, from "Construction Workers in Bronx Split $1.23 Million in Back Pay " (7/22/08):

Two hundred and eighty-four construction workers in the Bronx will receive a total of $1.23 million in back pay as part of a settlement over unpaid overtime, Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo announced on Monday.

Mr. Cuomo said the construction workers had not received time and a half for the overtime they had worked while renovating a dozen apartment buildings on the Grand Concourse, Gerard Avenue and elsewhere in the Bronx. He said the workers had received straight pay, regardless of how many hours they worked above 40 each week.

Mr. Cuomo’s office reached a settlement with two companies, J. Siebold Construction and Finkelstein-Morgan, which owns and manages real estate, without bringing a lawsuit against them.

“New York’s construction workers are the backbone of this city’s economy, but these companies sought to stiff almost 300 Bronx construction workers out of the overtime pay they earned and deserve,” Mr. Cuomo said.

“Today’s settlement will turn over $1.2 million to these workers and also send a serious message to employers across the state: Time-and-a-half pay for work over 40 hours a week is the law in New York State, and if an employer ignores that law, we will take action.”

The settlement is part of efforts by the attorney general and the State Labor Department to crack down on wage theft, which includes forcing employees to work off the clock, erasing hours they have worked and not paying time and a half for overtime.

The agreement calls for J. Siebold to pay $1.07 million in back wages and $160,000 in interest and penalties, while Finkelstein-Morgan serves as the guarantor of the payments. The violations occurred from October 2002 to August 2006, according to the attorney general’s office.

Under the settlement, the attorney general’s office will monitor the companies’ time and payroll practices to ensure their compliance until 2010.

Also under the settlement, the two companies are banned from retaliating in any way against employees who cooperated or were perceived as cooperating in the investigation.

Dennis A. Lalli, a lawyer for J. Siebold and Finkelstein-Morgan, said, “We cooperated fully with the agency, and I think the parties are in agreement that the final settlement was fair to all involved.”

Steven Finkelstein, a partner in Finkelstein-Morgan, said that his company owned the buildings and that J. Siebold was doing the renovations. Mr. Finkelstein said that because Mr. Cuomo came after both companies, “I had to be part of the settlement.” Of J. Siebold, he said, “They’re as embarrassed about this as we are.”

Wheres the jail time? That's grand larceny in my book. If I stole $1.2 million, I'm damn sure I would wind up in jail. Embarrassed? They should have a date with a fellow inmate. Hell, I wrote a comment over at the Times, if it gets published it will state:

Wheres the jail time? If I were to steal $1.2 million from my contractor, you bet you butt I would be spending time in Riker's, why the double standard for wealthy developers and construction companies who commit grand larceny?

I was kinda glad when I was reading this, then I thought about if it were the other way around, now I think it's a step in the right direction, a very, very small step.

While I appreciate what Mr.Cuomo has done, like I said, it's just not enough, not for the workers, not for the people of New York. We need higher standards for those who build in our city, higher standards for people who work in our city. Every single day I see, a most likely undocumented worker, on a scaffold with no safety equipment, is our governing body blind? How is this allowed to happen? Is this the building of the cross country railroads all over over again? Have we slipped into the early 1900's?

Dennis Kucinich stands with Indian slave pipefitters

Continuation from Tuesday's: Join the Indian slave pipefitters march on the Dept. of Justice (6/11/08)

From the Metro Washington Council, AFL-CIO (6/12/08) :

INDIAN WORKERS SUSPEND HUNGER STRIKE

Indian trafficking survivors suspended their 29-day hunger strike at a rally outside the Department of Justice Wednesday following a wave of support over the past month from US Congress-members, labor and religious leaders, and thousands of labor and civil rights activists across the country.

"We have confidence to suspend our hunger strike today because we have faith in these allies to fight alongside us until the traffickers are brought to justice," said Indian Workers' Congress Organizer Sabulal Vijayan. "With our hunger strike, we have won concrete actions that will help protect future workers from the nightmare of forced labor we suffered."

At the rally, US Congressmember Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) called the treatment the workers faced at the hands of Indian recruiters and their employer, Signal International, (DC Jobs with Justice Corner: Indian Workers to Stage Hunger Strike in DC 5/8/08 UC) "wrong, inhumane, and immoral." Kucinich and 17 other US Congress-members sent a letter to US Attorney General Michael Mukasey last week demanding he "take the steps necessary to ensure the workers' continued presence so that DOJ can continue this important investigation of modern-day slavery, human trafficking, and forced labor and bring these traffickers to justice."

Kucinich has also promised to hold a Congressional hearing on abuses of guest workers by Signal and other companies. "I think we as Americans and working people around the world owe you an enormous debt for standing up," said Nickeled and Dimed author Barbara Ehrenreich. "You helped bring to light a scandal of slavery in the US."

Quoting Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s recent statement that a “robust law enforcement response is essential” in stopping “petty tyrants who exploit their laborers,” AFL-CIO General Counsel Jon Hiatt called on the Bush Administration to “apply those principles right here at home” and prosecute Signal. The rally - attended by over one hundred supporters - was part of a National Day of Action for the workers that included congressional visits and rallies outside DOJ offices in 10 other cities.

Click Below to Send An E-Mail to Congress


The AFL-CIO WebBlog has been covering this also (most recent below)

• Indian Workers End Hunger Strike, Rally at Justice Dept. … for Justice

More stories of abuse of Indian workers here at Joe's

• The NY Times actually mentions Indian Slave pipe-fitters...
• Modern day Slavery hunger strikers going on day 20, Get E-Active!
• Indian Ambassador refuses to visit with "slave" hunger strikers
• Slavery in the news: Indian 'guest workers' to hold hunger strike in DC
• More H1B Visa abuse news
• Slavery: Alive and well in USA Pt.2, Indian pipefitters abused in H2B Visa scam, main stream media picks up story full year after facts are released
• Offshoring and H1B Visa abuse, the 1-2 punch to knockout US tech workers

Join the Union City E-Mail list

Join the Indian slave pipefitters march on the Dept. of Justice, 6/11/08

If this is the first you have heard of this story, you don't visit enough, from Union City e-mail:

Indian Guestworkers to Rally Outside DOJ:

Indian guestworkers and supporters will march on the Department of Justice (DOJ) Wednesday at noon to demand the DOJ allow workers to stay in the US during the ongoing investigation against their employer Signal International. “The workers, who walked off jobs in Gulf Coast shipyards in early March, say they were victims of human trafficking when they were brought to the United States under a temporary guest worker program,” reported Julia Preston in the New York Times on Saturday.

“The Indian workers say they were deceived by Signal International and labor recruiters when they paid as much as $20,000 for visas they believed would allow them to work and live permanently with their families in the United States.” The New York Times article followed the hospitalization of Paul Konar – the only remaining hunger striker from the group that began the strike on May 14 – Thursday that forced him to end his 23-day hunger strike. “Somebody needed to do something for others, so we, the Indian Worker Congress started this fight for justice,” said Konar Thursday. “I took this risk of holding a hunger strike to achieve justice in this country for all people.” 11 workers remain on hunger strike. Click here to sign a petition to support the workers.

Click Below to Send An E-Mail to Congress


More stories of abuse of Indian workers here at Joe's

• The NY Times actually mentions Indian Slave pipe-fitters...
• Modern day Slavery hunger strikers going on day 20, Get E-Active!
• Indian Ambassador refuses to visit with "slave" hunger strikers
• Slavery in the news: Indian 'guest workers' to hold hunger strike in DC
• More H1B Visa abuse news
• Slavery: Alive and well in USA Pt.2, Indian pipefitters abused in H2B Visa scam, main stream media picks up story full year after facts are released
• Offshoring and H1B Visa abuse, the 1-2 punch to knockout US tech workers

Join the Indian slave pipefitters march on the Dept. of Justice, 6/11/08

If this is the first you have heard of this story, you don't visit enough, from Union City e-mail:

Indian Guestworkers to Rally Outside DOJ:

Indian guestworkers and supporters will march on the Department of Justice (DOJ) Wednesday at noon to demand the DOJ allow workers to stay in the US during the ongoing investigation against their employer Signal International. “The workers, who walked off jobs in Gulf Coast shipyards in early March, say they were victims of human trafficking when they were brought to the United States under a temporary guest worker program,” reported Julia Preston in the New York Times on Saturday.

“The Indian workers say they were deceived by Signal International and labor recruiters when they paid as much as $20,000 for visas they believed would allow them to work and live permanently with their families in the United States.” The New York Times article followed the hospitalization of Paul Konar – the only remaining hunger striker from the group that began the strike on May 14 – Thursday that forced him to end his 23-day hunger strike. “Somebody needed to do something for others, so we, the Indian Worker Congress started this fight for justice,” said Konar Thursday. “I took this risk of holding a hunger strike to achieve justice in this country for all people.” 11 workers remain on hunger strike. Click here to sign a petition to support the workers.

Click Below to Send An E-Mail to Congress


More stories of abuse of Indian workers here at Joe's

• The NY Times actually mentions Indian Slave pipe-fitters...
• Modern day Slavery hunger strikers going on day 20, Get E-Active!
• Indian Ambassador refuses to visit with "slave" hunger strikers
• Slavery in the news: Indian 'guest workers' to hold hunger strike in DC
• More H1B Visa abuse news
• Slavery: Alive and well in USA Pt.2, Indian pipefitters abused in H2B Visa scam, main stream media picks up story full year after facts are released
• Offshoring and H1B Visa abuse, the 1-2 punch to knockout US tech workers

NY: City’s Top Crane Inspector Is Arrested

"this is what happens when u have someone making $50,000 in charge of handing out licenses worth millions to ventures worth billions."- Posted by atruh, in the comments

From The New York Times blog (6/6/08):

City’s Top Crane Inspector Is Arrested
By William K. Rashbaum

The city’s chief crane inspector was arrested on Friday and charged with taking bribes to approve cranes under his review and for taking money from crane operators who sought to ensure that they would pass the required licensing exam, an official involved in the case said.

James Delayo, the acting chief inspector for cranes and derricks at the city Department of Buildings, was in charge of overseeing the issuance of city licenses for crane operators. He is also facing charges that he provided a copy of the crane operator’s exam and the test answers to a crane company in exchange for $3,000, the official said.

Mr. Delayo, who is being prosecuted by the office of the Manhattan district attorney, Robert M. Morgenthau, surrendered this morning to investigators from the city’s Department of Investigation, the official said. The city investigators developed the case.

The charges against Mr. Delayo will likely include receiving an unlawful gratuity and offering a false instrument for filing, the official said, and come just a week after the city’s second fatal tower crane collapse in 10 weeks.

The accusations, however, do not involve the inspections of the large tower cranes, like those that collapsed last Friday and March 15, but smaller machines, known as Class C cranes, the official said.

Investigators believe that Mr. Delayo, since at least 2002, signed off on the annual inspection of between 20 and 30 Class C cranes without conducting any examination in exchange for “several hundred dollars” apiece, the official said.

Check out the blog, some of the comments are right on the money

It’s amazing that after every high-profile construction accident, they find someone to arrest. It’s sad to think that there is no justice in the low-profile construction deaths. Somehow, I don’t think they will find anyone culpable in the most recent death, which took place at a construction site on St. Marks Avenue in Crown Heights.
— Posted by harriet

Amazing reply, I hinted that in my article on the most recent NY disaster "Crane collapse in New York, 2 dead, 2 critical", and heres something I was speaking about recently:

this is what happens when u have someone making $50,000 in charge of handing out licenses worth millions to ventures worth billions.
— Posted by atruh

*Image by Sheldon at Picasaweb
Big thanks to Chuck at UBCNewsroom for pointing out the video

NY: City’s Top Crane Inspector Is Arrested

"this is what happens when u have someone making $50,000 in charge of handing out licenses worth millions to ventures worth billions."- Posted by atruh, in the comments

From The New York Times blog (6/6/08):

City’s Top Crane Inspector Is Arrested
By William K. Rashbaum

The city’s chief crane inspector was arrested on Friday and charged with taking bribes to approve cranes under his review and for taking money from crane operators who sought to ensure that they would pass the required licensing exam, an official involved in the case said.

James Delayo, the acting chief inspector for cranes and derricks at the city Department of Buildings, was in charge of overseeing the issuance of city licenses for crane operators. He is also facing charges that he provided a copy of the crane operator’s exam and the test answers to a crane company in exchange for $3,000, the official said.

Mr. Delayo, who is being prosecuted by the office of the Manhattan district attorney, Robert M. Morgenthau, surrendered this morning to investigators from the city’s Department of Investigation, the official said. The city investigators developed the case.

The charges against Mr. Delayo will likely include receiving an unlawful gratuity and offering a false instrument for filing, the official said, and come just a week after the city’s second fatal tower crane collapse in 10 weeks.

The accusations, however, do not involve the inspections of the large tower cranes, like those that collapsed last Friday and March 15, but smaller machines, known as Class C cranes, the official said.

Investigators believe that Mr. Delayo, since at least 2002, signed off on the annual inspection of between 20 and 30 Class C cranes without conducting any examination in exchange for “several hundred dollars” apiece, the official said.

Check out the blog, some of the comments are right on the money

It’s amazing that after every high-profile construction accident, they find someone to arrest. It’s sad to think that there is no justice in the low-profile construction deaths. Somehow, I don’t think they will find anyone culpable in the most recent death, which took place at a construction site on St. Marks Avenue in Crown Heights.
— Posted by harriet

Amazing reply, I hinted that in my article on the most recent NY disaster "Crane collapse in New York, 2 dead, 2 critical", and heres something I was speaking about recently:

this is what happens when u have someone making $50,000 in charge of handing out licenses worth millions to ventures worth billions.
— Posted by atruh

*Image by Sheldon at Picasaweb
Big thanks to Chuck at UBCNewsroom for pointing out the video

Underage and pregnant Mexican teen dies on California vinyard

“If you take her to a clinic,” the foreman said, “don’t say she was working [for the contractor]. Say she became sick because she was jogging to get exercise. Since she’s underage, it will create big problems for us.”


I got wind of this story from TrueBlueMajority at DailyKos from (5/29/08):

Pregnant farmworker dies due to safety violations
Funeral services were held yesterday in California for Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez. Vasquez Jimenez was a 17 year old woman working for a contracting company called Merced Farm Labor, and she died of overheating because rules about access to water, water breaks, and shade were ignored. Newspaper reports indicate her body temperature exceeded 108 degrees. She may not have known she was two months pregnant; her pregnancy was discovered as part of the investigation into her death.

Republicans and conservatives who claim to be "pro-life" while acting as though undocumented farmworkers are disposable people pushes all my righteous anger buttons. I predict we won't see any outrage from the "pro-life" community about the unnecessary death of this young woman and her unborn child.

From the Sacramento Bee:

When Vasquez Jimenez collapsed, she had been on the job three days, pruning vines for $8 an hour in a vineyard owned by West Coast Grape Farming.

During eight hours of work beginning at 6 a.m. in heat that topped 95 degrees, Bautista said that workers were given only one water break, at 10:30 a.m. And the water was a 10-minute walk away – too far, he said, to keep up with the crew and avoid being scolded.

Vasquez Jimenez collapsed at 3:30 p.m., Bautista said, and for at least five minutes, the foreman did nothing but stare at the couple while Bautista cradled her.

Bautista said the foreman told him to place the teenager in the back seat of a van, which was hot inside, and put a wet cloth on her.

Later, Bautista said, the foreman told a driver to take the pair to a store to buy rubbing alcohol and apply it to see if it would revive Vasquez Jimenez. When that failed, the driver took the couple to a clinic in Lodi, Bautista said, where her body temperature had reached more than 108 degrees.

"The foreman told me to say that she wasn't working for a contractor, that she got sick while exercising," Bautista said in Spanish. "He said she was underage, and it would cause a lot of problems."

Bautista and family members said that clinic staff rushed the girl to a hospital, where she was revived several times before finally succumbing two days later without ever regaining consciousness. Doctors later discovered she was two months pregnant.

the United Farm Workers website in memorializing her quotes from a speech by Cesar Chavez from 34 years ago when he reflected on whether these deaths are deliberate:

"They are deliberate," Cesar said, "in the sense that they are the direct result of a farm labor system that treats workers like agricultural implements and not as human beings. These accidents happen because employers and labor contractors treat us as if we were not important human beings."

But farm workers "are important human beings," Cesar continued...

They are important because they are from us. We cherish them. We love them. We will miss them.

They are important because of the love they gave to their husbands, their children, their wives, their parents—all those who were close to them and who needed them.

They are important because of the work they do. They are not implements to be used and discarded. They are human beings who sweat and sacrifice to bring food to the tables of millions...of people throughout the world.

They are important because God made them, gave them life, and cares for them in life and death.

Which brings me to what UnionGal brought up in her version of the story:

How many more will it take for OSHA to do the right thing, for the states to enforce the law, for everyone to understand that the grapes on the table or in your juice or wine may be at the price of a human life or two? Isn't that price too high to pay? It is, it's too high, way too high.

I figure if you have been reading my stories in succession, you may notice a recent theme, there are less and less jobs for American citizens, and the trade off is slavery. Corporate American and the politicians are allowing everything that American workers, our original immigrants fought so valiantly for. It seems the only ones fighting for justice are unions and social activist. Which brings me to the next article about Glen Beck from CNN, who wrote a fantastic piece entitled "Commentary: Slavery alive and well in U.S." (5/28/08) which brings up a lot of items discussed on this blog, including "Illegal immigrants aren't employees, they're corporate slaves" and that "fines should be much higher on employers that hire illegal workers"

Another tidbit of farmworker abuse that should be viewed is UnionGals "Sesame Street: Injustice Brought to Us By The Letter "U"" (5/20/08), heres a very small snip

Farm labor organizers say they have discovered more than 100 migrant fruit pickers living in a Central Valley cherry orchard where they have been sleeping outdoors and bathing in drainage ditches.

The American worker and all jobs here are being attacked, the writing is on the wall people, it is the fight that must be taken seriously by everyone. It's not just industrial jobs, its the jobs that are still here, the meat cutting, construction, programming, nursing, everything.

Underage and pregnant Mexican teen dies on California vinyard

“If you take her to a clinic,” the foreman said, “don’t say she was working [for the contractor]. Say she became sick because she was jogging to get exercise. Since she’s underage, it will create big problems for us.”


I got wind of this story from TrueBlueMajority at DailyKos from (5/29/08):

Pregnant farmworker dies due to safety violations
Funeral services were held yesterday in California for Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez. Vasquez Jimenez was a 17 year old woman working for a contracting company called Merced Farm Labor, and she died of overheating because rules about access to water, water breaks, and shade were ignored. Newspaper reports indicate her body temperature exceeded 108 degrees. She may not have known she was two months pregnant; her pregnancy was discovered as part of the investigation into her death.

Republicans and conservatives who claim to be "pro-life" while acting as though undocumented farmworkers are disposable people pushes all my righteous anger buttons. I predict we won't see any outrage from the "pro-life" community about the unnecessary death of this young woman and her unborn child.

From the Sacramento Bee:

When Vasquez Jimenez collapsed, she had been on the job three days, pruning vines for $8 an hour in a vineyard owned by West Coast Grape Farming.

During eight hours of work beginning at 6 a.m. in heat that topped 95 degrees, Bautista said that workers were given only one water break, at 10:30 a.m. And the water was a 10-minute walk away – too far, he said, to keep up with the crew and avoid being scolded.

Vasquez Jimenez collapsed at 3:30 p.m., Bautista said, and for at least five minutes, the foreman did nothing but stare at the couple while Bautista cradled her.

Bautista said the foreman told him to place the teenager in the back seat of a van, which was hot inside, and put a wet cloth on her.

Later, Bautista said, the foreman told a driver to take the pair to a store to buy rubbing alcohol and apply it to see if it would revive Vasquez Jimenez. When that failed, the driver took the couple to a clinic in Lodi, Bautista said, where her body temperature had reached more than 108 degrees.

"The foreman told me to say that she wasn't working for a contractor, that she got sick while exercising," Bautista said in Spanish. "He said she was underage, and it would cause a lot of problems."

Bautista and family members said that clinic staff rushed the girl to a hospital, where she was revived several times before finally succumbing two days later without ever regaining consciousness. Doctors later discovered she was two months pregnant.

the United Farm Workers website in memorializing her quotes from a speech by Cesar Chavez from 34 years ago when he reflected on whether these deaths are deliberate:

"They are deliberate," Cesar said, "in the sense that they are the direct result of a farm labor system that treats workers like agricultural implements and not as human beings. These accidents happen because employers and labor contractors treat us as if we were not important human beings."

But farm workers "are important human beings," Cesar continued...

They are important because they are from us. We cherish them. We love them. We will miss them.

They are important because of the love they gave to their husbands, their children, their wives, their parents—all those who were close to them and who needed them.

They are important because of the work they do. They are not implements to be used and discarded. They are human beings who sweat and sacrifice to bring food to the tables of millions...of people throughout the world.

They are important because God made them, gave them life, and cares for them in life and death.

Which brings me to what UnionGal brought up in her version of the story:

How many more will it take for OSHA to do the right thing, for the states to enforce the law, for everyone to understand that the grapes on the table or in your juice or wine may be at the price of a human life or two? Isn't that price too high to pay? It is, it's too high, way too high.

I figure if you have been reading my stories in succession, you may notice a recent theme, there are less and less jobs for American citizens, and the trade off is slavery. Corporate American and the politicians are allowing everything that American workers, our original immigrants fought so valiantly for. It seems the only ones fighting for justice are unions and social activist. Which brings me to the next article about Glen Beck from CNN, who wrote a fantastic piece entitled "Commentary: Slavery alive and well in U.S." (5/28/08) which brings up a lot of items discussed on this blog, including "Illegal immigrants aren't employees, they're corporate slaves" and that "fines should be much higher on employers that hire illegal workers"

Another tidbit of farmworker abuse that should be viewed is UnionGals "Sesame Street: Injustice Brought to Us By The Letter "U"" (5/20/08), heres a very small snip

Farm labor organizers say they have discovered more than 100 migrant fruit pickers living in a Central Valley cherry orchard where they have been sleeping outdoors and bathing in drainage ditches.

The American worker and all jobs here are being attacked, the writing is on the wall people, it is the fight that must be taken seriously by everyone. It's not just industrial jobs, its the jobs that are still here, the meat cutting, construction, programming, nursing, everything.

Modern day Slavery hunger strikers going on day 20, Get E-Active!

"Very little has changed in the last hundred years. Welcome to the new world order." - Ron Ault, President Metal Trades Dept., AFL-CIO in support of hunger strikers

Signal Corp Fucked American workers from the beginning
Getting to the bottom of why this is a plight for all American workers

I have been following this story for a while, not only for the fact that it's a crime against humanity and every labor law of the United states, not just for the fact that I detest slavery and Visa abuses, not only for the constantly worsening conditions that working people in my United States must endure, the HUGEST GRIPE I have is that this is the work that myself and my fellow union brothers and sisters do for a living, and while we get a decent paycheck, we only get one when we work and we are by no means independently wealthy. Construction is quickly becoming the most dangerous profession in the country, it requires high skills and training. Signal International decided that it wouldn't even use any US workers at all, and was granted H2B, temporary, non-seasonal Visa's to bypass all American workers and get them from elsewhere. I know quite a few pipefitters and steamfitters who would have worked to get Signal back online.

So Signal Corp fucked the American worker from the beginning. Thats just the start to our story. I'll let the E-Active campaign, by Jobs With Justice, which has already had 9,000 E-mails sent to Congress asking for an investigation of Signal International, explain the rest of this travesty.

When Signal International needed workers to rebuild the shipping industry, they did not hire and train the local population. Instead, Signal used the exploitive “guest worker” visas and corrupt recruiters to hire workers.

Welders and pipe-fitters from India paid recruiters up to $20,000 for the promise of permanent visas for themselves and their families. Upon arrival to the U.S. these workers were placed in cramped, unsanitary housing, charged exorbitant rent, and forced to work for Signal International. Their working and living conditions in the Gulf Coast amounted to modern day human slavery.

On March 6, more than 100 workers broke the human trafficking chain and quit their jobs at Signal in protest. These workers, together with the New Orleans Workers Center, are carrying forward the struggle for justice not only for themselves, but also for all immigrant workers in the U.S. by exposing the fundamental injustices of the guest worker program. These workers have toured the U.S. telling their stories and have appealed to Federal Government to investigate Signal International and their recruiters, only to be surveilled by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

On May 14th, these brave workers started a hunger strike to demand action from our elected officials.

You can help! Please urge your Representatives in Congress to hold hearings on Signal International and to grant continued presence to the workers.

Click Below to Send An E-Mail to Congress

Tomorrow is day 20

I just got my E-Mail from Metro Labor and found that there was only 1 striker remaining, a man named Paul, today is the 19th day, last week Paul had his 54th birthday on the line. According to Scott Reynolds, the is State & Local Labor Council Coordinator for the AFL-CIO, writing for DC Metro:

Paul is of course much thinner than when I saw him last and his voice is weak. He slept most of the time I was there. When we talked he spoke with an almost spiritual sense of conviction about doing this so others wouldn't have to endure the same exploitation he and his fellow workers had suffered. He said 'prayer is my food.' There wasn't a trace of bitterness or anger. He seemed almost serene. I forget sometimes that struggle isn't just about tactics and strategy, though those things are undeniably important. It's also about sacrifice and courage. Paul may not know that his campaign is an uphill battle that hasn't yet found much of a spotlight or a patron, but if he does know I'm pretty sure he doesn't care much. The successful hunger strike at Georgetown University lasted nine days. Gandhi fasted for 21. Tomorrow will be day 20 for Paul. Amazing.

I'm with you in spirit Paul, speaking of the plight and the injustices these workers endured, I happened across a site called "The New Orleans Workers' Center for Racial Justice", which as of now is dedicated to spreading awareness of the injustices against both foreign and American workers in post-Katrina New Orleans. They are following the story, with as much information as they can get.


AFL-CIO General Counsel Jon Hiatt states

The AFL-CIO and its 10 million members are proud to support the hunger strike by these Signal workers, and their campaign to shed light on the abuses of the U.S. Government’s H2B guest worker program.

For decades, the AFL-CIO has been fighting against so-called guest worker programs, programs that are in reality indentured worker programs.

The substantial exploitation of workers in these programs has been well documented, most recently by the Southern Poverty Law Center, and now through the struggles of these courageous workers.

These courageous workers have clearly shown us that the H2B program is a template for exploitation, and that we need to work together to expose the abuses of the program. By denying workers their labor rights, this program lowers wages and working conditions, to the detriment of all workers.

The AFL-CIO supports this strike and will stand in solidarity with the workers through this struggle.

I have a lot more stories of slavery and labor abuses that are affecting all Americans, I've needed a little time, but I'll try to get them out tonight. Don't forget to click below and send the E-Mail

Modern day Slavery hunger strikers going on day 20, Get E-Active!

"Very little has changed in the last hundred years. Welcome to the new world order." - Ron Ault, President Metal Trades Dept., AFL-CIO in support of hunger strikers

Signal Corp Fucked American workers from the beginning
Getting to the bottom of why this is a plight for all American workers

I have been following this story for a while, not only for the fact that it's a crime against humanity and every labor law of the United states, not just for the fact that I detest slavery and Visa abuses, not only for the constantly worsening conditions that working people in my United States must endure, the HUGEST GRIPE I have is that this is the work that myself and my fellow union brothers and sisters do for a living, and while we get a decent paycheck, we only get one when we work and we are by no means independently wealthy. Construction is quickly becoming the most dangerous profession in the country, it requires high skills and training. Signal International decided that it wouldn't even use any US workers at all, and was granted H2B, temporary, non-seasonal Visa's to bypass all American workers and get them from elsewhere. I know quite a few pipefitters and steamfitters who would have worked to get Signal back online.

So Signal Corp fucked the American worker from the beginning. Thats just the start to our story. I'll let the E-Active campaign, by Jobs With Justice, which has already had 9,000 E-mails sent to Congress asking for an investigation of Signal International, explain the rest of this travesty.

When Signal International needed workers to rebuild the shipping industry, they did not hire and train the local population. Instead, Signal used the exploitive “guest worker” visas and corrupt recruiters to hire workers.

Welders and pipe-fitters from India paid recruiters up to $20,000 for the promise of permanent visas for themselves and their families. Upon arrival to the U.S. these workers were placed in cramped, unsanitary housing, charged exorbitant rent, and forced to work for Signal International. Their working and living conditions in the Gulf Coast amounted to modern day human slavery.

On March 6, more than 100 workers broke the human trafficking chain and quit their jobs at Signal in protest. These workers, together with the New Orleans Workers Center, are carrying forward the struggle for justice not only for themselves, but also for all immigrant workers in the U.S. by exposing the fundamental injustices of the guest worker program. These workers have toured the U.S. telling their stories and have appealed to Federal Government to investigate Signal International and their recruiters, only to be surveilled by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

On May 14th, these brave workers started a hunger strike to demand action from our elected officials.

You can help! Please urge your Representatives in Congress to hold hearings on Signal International and to grant continued presence to the workers.

Click Below to Send An E-Mail to Congress

Tomorrow is day 20

I just got my E-Mail from Metro Labor and found that there was only 1 striker remaining, a man named Paul, today is the 19th day, last week Paul had his 54th birthday on the line. According to Scott Reynolds, the is State & Local Labor Council Coordinator for the AFL-CIO, writing for DC Metro:

Paul is of course much thinner than when I saw him last and his voice is weak. He slept most of the time I was there. When we talked he spoke with an almost spiritual sense of conviction about doing this so others wouldn't have to endure the same exploitation he and his fellow workers had suffered. He said 'prayer is my food.' There wasn't a trace of bitterness or anger. He seemed almost serene. I forget sometimes that struggle isn't just about tactics and strategy, though those things are undeniably important. It's also about sacrifice and courage. Paul may not know that his campaign is an uphill battle that hasn't yet found much of a spotlight or a patron, but if he does know I'm pretty sure he doesn't care much. The successful hunger strike at Georgetown University lasted nine days. Gandhi fasted for 21. Tomorrow will be day 20 for Paul. Amazing.

I'm with you in spirit Paul, speaking of the plight and the injustices these workers endured, I happened across a site called "The New Orleans Workers' Center for Racial Justice", which as of now is dedicated to spreading awareness of the injustices against both foreign and American workers in post-Katrina New Orleans. They are following the story, with as much information as they can get.


AFL-CIO General Counsel Jon Hiatt states

The AFL-CIO and its 10 million members are proud to support the hunger strike by these Signal workers, and their campaign to shed light on the abuses of the U.S. Government’s H2B guest worker program.

For decades, the AFL-CIO has been fighting against so-called guest worker programs, programs that are in reality indentured worker programs.

The substantial exploitation of workers in these programs has been well documented, most recently by the Southern Poverty Law Center, and now through the struggles of these courageous workers.

These courageous workers have clearly shown us that the H2B program is a template for exploitation, and that we need to work together to expose the abuses of the program. By denying workers their labor rights, this program lowers wages and working conditions, to the detriment of all workers.

The AFL-CIO supports this strike and will stand in solidarity with the workers through this struggle.

I have a lot more stories of slavery and labor abuses that are affecting all Americans, I've needed a little time, but I'll try to get them out tonight. Don't forget to click below and send the E-Mail

Indian Ambassador refuses to visit with "slave" hunger strikers

Follow up on the post-Katrina abuses of H2B Visa guest workers in Mississippi and Texas.

• Slavery in the news: Indian 'guest workers' to hold hunger strike in DC (3/12/08)
  
• Indian slave pipefitters long march to Washington, and a book about modern U.S. slavery (3/19/08)
• Slavery: Alive and well in USA Pt.2, Indian pipefitters abused in H2B Visa scam, main stream media picks up story full year after facts are released (3/13/08)

From DC Labor Council Newsletter (5/29/08):

Indian Ambassador Refuses to Visit with Hunger Strikers
Hunger strikers – too weak to make the trip to the Indian Embassy – were refused a visit by Indian Ambassador to the US, Ronen Sen, on Tuesday. Sen – who has met with workers in the past and promised his support (Indian Workers March on Embassy 3/28/08 UC) – stunned the strikers on Tuesday when he told them that he had not received their list of demands and he would not visit hunger strikers because he “couldn’t get involved with politics.” "Since when is showing sympathy for brutally exploited Indians in America called 'politics’”asked Sabulal Vijayan, an organizer with the Alliance of Guestworkers for Dignity. Indian workers have been pressuring Indian government officials to demand the US government allow the workers to stay in the US to participate in the human trafficking investigation against their employer, Signal International.

Click below to subscribe

Indian Ambassador refuses to visit with "slave" hunger strikers

Follow up on the post-Katrina abuses of H2B Visa guest workers in Mississippi and Texas.

• Slavery in the news: Indian 'guest workers' to hold hunger strike in DC (3/12/08)
  
• Indian slave pipefitters long march to Washington, and a book about modern U.S. slavery (3/19/08)
• Slavery: Alive and well in USA Pt.2, Indian pipefitters abused in H2B Visa scam, main stream media picks up story full year after facts are released (3/13/08)

From DC Labor Council Newsletter (5/29/08):

Indian Ambassador Refuses to Visit with Hunger Strikers
Hunger strikers – too weak to make the trip to the Indian Embassy – were refused a visit by Indian Ambassador to the US, Ronen Sen, on Tuesday. Sen – who has met with workers in the past and promised his support (Indian Workers March on Embassy 3/28/08 UC) – stunned the strikers on Tuesday when he told them that he had not received their list of demands and he would not visit hunger strikers because he “couldn’t get involved with politics.” "Since when is showing sympathy for brutally exploited Indians in America called 'politics’”asked Sabulal Vijayan, an organizer with the Alliance of Guestworkers for Dignity. Indian workers have been pressuring Indian government officials to demand the US government allow the workers to stay in the US to participate in the human trafficking investigation against their employer, Signal International.

Click below to subscribe

Slavery in the news: Indian 'guest workers' to hold hunger strike in DC

Follow up on the post-Katrina abuses of H2B Visa guest workers in Mississippi and Texas.

• Indian slave pipefitters long march to Washington, and a book about modern U.S. slavery (3/19/08)
• Slavery: Alive and well in USA Pt.2, Indian pipefitters abused in H2B Visa scam, main stream media picks up story full year after facts are released (3/13/08)

From DC Labor Council Newsletter (5/12/08):

INDIAN WORKERS TO LAUNCH HUNGER STRIKE IN DC

Hundreds of Indian workers will launch a hunger strike this Wednesday to demand that the federal government investigate the guest worker program and abuse of post-Katrina Gulf Coast workers. The hunger strike follows a march from New Orleans to Washington by the workers, who escaped labor camps in Texas and Mississippi in March. "Guest workers from across the world are systematically exploited under the federal H2B visa program," says the New Orleans Worker Center for Racial Justice (NOWCRJ), which is supporting the workers. "They suffer abuses that routinely rise to the level of labor trafficking, forced labor, and involuntary servitude. If they organize, they face violence and deportation."

Click below to subscribe

Video: When union busters attack

Thanks to Bert at MySpace for giving me the heads up on this video, link below

Bert

Indian slave pipefitters long march to Washington, and a book about modern U.S. slavery

Updates on-> Slavery: Alive and well in USA Pt.2, Indian pipefitters abused in H2B Visa scam, main stream media picks up story full year after facts are released (3/13/08)

From: The International Trade Union Confederation (3/19?/08)

Indian Workers Trafficked to US

Brussels, 18 March 2008: The ITUC has today called on the US and Indian Governments to take action on behalf of nearly a hundred Indian workers who on 10 March protested the trafficking practices they suffered when they were recruited in India only to be exploited on a shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi.

The workers are demanding that the U.S. Department of Justice open a criminal investigation against their traffickers and that it act to ensure that future workers and their families do not face the same modern-day slavery. Reportedly, on the same day a law suit was filed on behalf of about 500 Indian dock workers. The 82-page complaint accuses Signal International, a marine construction company, and American and Indian recruiters Malvern Burnett and Dewan Consultants respectively, of subjecting over 500 Indian workers to forced labour, trafficking, fraud and civil rights violations. Full Story

From The Financial Express (3/19/08)

Washington, March 19: More than 100 Indian workers, who alleged that they faced "slave-like treatment" in a Mississippi shipyard after being "tricked" into coming to the US, have began a march from New Orleans to Washington to meet Indian Ambassador Ronen Sen in their search for justice.

The protesters, who alleged that the Indian government failed to protect them, are expected to reach Washington DC on March 26.

"We write in response to your seven-day-long silence, followed by a 97-word letter that adds insult to the workers' injury as survivors of human trafficking. Apparently 18 months of human trafficking merited less than 100 words from you," the workers have said in a letter to Ambassador Sen.

"You leave us no choice but to launch a satyagraha so that the truth will come to light and justice will be served," they added.

"My doors are always open to any of my fellow citizens of India," Sen had said in a letter to Saket Soni of the Alliance of Guest Workers for Dignity.

"I am willing to receive you and other Indian workers at my office at a mutually convenient date and time to see how legitimate grievances and concerns could be met," Sen had said in the March 17 letter making also the point that a report submitted by senior Indian officials on the matter is being examined.

The Indian workers have made a number of demands including asking the Ambassador to pressurize the State Department to restrict travel to India for their employer Signal Internationals US recruiters.

They also want India to put pressure on the US government to halt any expansion of the guest worker program until both governments have adopted an agreement that reflects the interests of workers, as well as Companies and recruiters.

"These workers received a harsh education in the caste system of the United States," said Soni, also Director of the New Orleans Workers' Center for Racial Justice.

"The Indian government must look these workers in their face and decide: On what terms is India willing to send its citizens to become indentured servants in the United States?" he said in a statement.

The workers quit their job in a Mississippi shipyard and sued the employer demanding "tens of millions of dollars" in damages for allegedly bringing them to the US on a false promise of permanent residency and forcing them to work under inhuman conditions.

The Next Book I'm Gonna Purchase

From the pages of Alter-Net: Slavery Is Alive and Well in the U.S. (11/07/08) Excerpted

What do you call it when those who cross the Mexican-U.S. border get charged thousands of dollars for a ride to a job where their employer makes them pay rent for unspeakably bad living conditions and board for the food they can only buy at the company store and where that employer patrols with dogs, trucks and thugs so the workers can't leave?

John Bowe calls it slavery. And it's happening in the United States right now, he says. Bowe's newest book, Nobodies: Modern American Slave Labor and the Dark Side of the Global Economy, makes the case using three specific cases and geographical areas to show just how much workers in the U.S. get undermined and hurt by these practices.

Interview with author by Suzi Steffen, AlterNet. Same article, excerpted

SS: Do you see American unions helping in this fight for ending slavery? What could they do, and why should they do it?

JB: Well, the unions have caught up and gotten much smarter in the last 10 years. At first they'd be thinking anti-immigrant, and now, it's better for them to focus on, "If you're in this country, and you're working, this is how much you're supposed to be paid," and enforce the labor laws.

But unions have gotten a bad name, and money and corporations have done a lot to give them a bad name. Perhaps it will be tough going for unions until the economic inequality in the U.S. and around the globe gets worse, but eventually it will get bad enough so unions will look like a good idea again. The reason I wrote my book was to help people choose between the imperfections and current uncoolness of unions -- and the endpoint of the current trend towards inequality. Would you rather be in a union? Or would you rather be unpaid entirely and treated far worse?

SS: The middle section of your book concerns the bizarre abuse of "training" programs, in this case for a group of welders from India. What other abuses have you heard about of this program, and how can the government or ordinary citizens help stop this abuse?

JB: Guest worker problems are bad, period. Go all the way back to the colonies and indentured servants from Germany, in which there was tons of abuse, up to the Bracero Program and the people brought to cut sugar cane. There's just always abuse. Guest worker programs don't work. I'm much more liberal than many people on the issue of admitting foreigners to become legal citizens of the U.S., but I'm probably much more conservative than most people I know about illegal immigration. Enforcement against employers who hire illegal citizens should be funded to the fullest possible levels. You can't have a fair or democratic society without the rule of law, and in my opinion, laws formed around the idea that we're all equal are wonderful. Don't have these halfway citizens. Having people around who have half rights leads to abuse.

SS: You mention that people have a hard time calling coerced work "slavery." Why is that?

JB: Because it hasn't happened to them. I had a hard time at first, I just didn't get what was the essence of slavery. It is a very complicated subject; thousands of people are earning their living writing about it. But really, it's as creative as any form of art. There are so many different tortures, punishments, rules; so many ways of convincing the slave this is the correct order of things. Someone else has control over you.

Some people said to me, "We're all slaves to consumer ideology," but you can't go throwing terms around. "Slavery" doesn't mean "suffering," or working at a job that's a bummer, or depressing or whatever. It means someone is hurting you or threatening to hurt you or your family, and they are forcing you to work, and you can't leave.

SS: How should media folks be responding to your work and to the conditions of inequality we see all around us?

JB: There's a fable where the king hired people to go out and circulate among the people and find out what was going on -- that's how journalism in a free country should work. But instead we're blinded by Britney getting fat, and we don't hear anything about regular life -- and no one really cares about it. Journalism about the poor is always done in this boo-hoo way. You have to go out and write about poor people, yes, but you have to be really good at it to make people find it interesting. No one wants to be sorry for people.

So get off your ass and get off your desk and get out there. Forget about the internet. Forget about other media. Go out into the real world. Go to places you don't know, talk to people you don't understand, whom you fear. Ask them what the world looks like through their eyes. Start from there. Surprise yourself.