A recent settlement between Dreamland Amusements and its workers aims to send a message to carnival operators: exploitation of foreign-born or other workers will not go unnoticed or unpunished.
It’s a case that highlights the terrible conditions that some H2B (temporary work visa) program workers face, including psychological abuse, terrible living conditions and loss of wages. Because of their precarious legal status, they are often unable to fight back.
But in a recent victory for guest laborers, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo ordered Dreamland to pay $325,000 in back wages, improve the substandard living conditions in which its workers were forced to live, and require managers to undergo anti-discrimination training.
Under the agreement, which was announced at the end of August, the company must reform its employment practices and submit to monitoring and unannounced visits to its job sites.
A subsequent probe found that the workers on visas were denied minimum wages and overtime while working as much as 70 hours per week. They were forced to live in cramped, bug-infested trailers while other workers who were not on visas received preferential living quarters.
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http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/4890/a_victory_for_east-coast_carnival_workersCross post from the Labor Forum, thanks Omaha Steve. This shit makes me spitting mad. These are LEGAL workers. They have visas. And they are STILL being exploited and abused and cheated. "Jobs Americans won't do" my ass. "Comprehensive Immigration Reform" better do something about this shit and not just be a legal conduit to bring quasi-slaves to asshole low wage exploiter employers.
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