February 28, 2007

New York Times throws cold water on guest worker schemes

Steven Greenhouse of the New York Times offers "Low Pay and Broken Promises Greet Guest Workers", which details several Thai and Indonesian workers getting ripped off after being brought to the U.S. as "guest" workers. One group is suing labor contractors and erstwhile employers.

I don't know exactly what the NYT is getting at here. Perhaps they favor "guest" worker schemes, but they just want to make sure their future serfs are treated fairly. Or, perhaps they've joined the "legalization for all even if they just snuck over the border five minutes ago" brigade. But, whatever it is, let's throw this back in their faces the next time they pull the stuff this article complains about:

Labor experts say employers abuse guest workers far more than other workers because employers know they can ship them home the moment they complain. They also know these workers cannot seek other jobs if they are unhappy.

"I'd say a substantial majority of U.S. guest workers experience some abuses with their paycheck," said David Griffith, a professor in the anthropology department at East Carolina University and author of the new book "American Guestworkers: Jamaicans and Mexicans in the U.S. Labor Market." "It's the recruitment process especially where they get cheated."

The abuses take many forms. Guest workers often pay exorbitant fees and are frequently given fewer weeks of work and lower wages than promised. Many employers fail to make good on their commitment to pay transportation costs. The Thai workers, who were supposed to be paid $16,000 a year for three years, ended up earning a total of just $1,400 to $2,400. Most of the Thai workers had their passports taken away after they arrived, leaving them trapped.

"The program has been rife with abuses, even during the best of times," said Cindy Hahamovitch, a history professor at the College of William and Mary, who is writing a book about guest workers. "There will never be enough inspectors to check every labor camp, contract and field."

For decades, farmers, tree-planting companies, and hotel and restaurant owners have argued that they need guest workers, citing a shortage of Americans willing to fill jobs in their industries. In Washington, many supporters of an expanded guest worker program say they want to strengthen protections to curb abusive treatment.

Is the last sentence the secret clue to the NYT's motives?

"The business community supports the idea that these temporary workers should have the exact same employment protections as American workers," said Randel Johnson, co-chairman of the Essential Worker Immigration Coalition, a business group lobbying to expand the guest worker program. "When an employer can't find an American worker to fill a job, the economy is helped if the employer can find someone else."

Critics, including many labor unions and immigrant groups, say employers exaggerate the labor shortage because they are eager for cheap, docile, temporary labor from abroad. The critics say there would not be such a shortage of American workers if employers offered a living wage for these jobs.

In Congress, proposals to expand protections for guest workers include a provision to bar employers from retaliating when these workers protest and one that would let them sue in federal court over contract violations...

Posted to Immigration2007a at February 28, 2007 05:34 AM

Comments

As a serfs of the rich! its all about legailzation for the world popultion not just mexico, the fact is the big boys want us all "serfs" with rights to be worked to death for the big money people.

Posted by: Fred Dawes at February 28, 2007 06:59 AM

The NYT doesn't care if they treat American Citizen workers unfairly . Sick of being treated like a second class citizen in favor of law breaking , criminal, squatters!!

Posted by: mary at February 28, 2007 06:46 PM

Mary is right, we all are nothing in front of a insane government that is ruled by the drug dealers of the world.

Posted by: Fred Dawes at March 1, 2007 10:38 PM