Foreign students on j-1 protest work conditions here

[89911]

Foreign students protest Hershey work conditions

This has been in the paper lately. Apparently when they signed up for the trip to America , they weren't all given jobs punching tickets at amusement parks. I'm having a hard time sympathizing.

[VINMAN]

Dont like it? Go back to your fuchin country!

Around here all the Jersey shore town have been taken over by these Eastern European kids. Actually all the shore town up and down the East coast and as far as key West. They work on the boardwalks and local stores and gift/souvenier shops. These are the jobs that have always been filled by the local kids. Now the locals are scrounging for work especially during the summer break.
The Eastern Europeans are the worst, they are arrogant, rude and nasty. They think who the hell they are. I would take the South of the border illegals over them anyday.

[89911]

I never completely understood the J-1 rules. As far as I know the kids aren't forced into it. What are they expecting, to travel to the US, have all their expenses paid, and pocket 100% of there income? If there is a gripe, they should take it up with whoever placed them from their country. Giving someone an opportunity to work in whatever capacity and then having them be critical of job isn't the employers problem. My daughter worked all summer lifeguarding at our community pool for not much over minimum wage. She didn't have to but wanted to for extra money at school. She was lucky to find a job.

[widgeon13]

no ******* sympathy for them, none whatsoever!

They're just **** disturbers.

[Racerbvd]

Send their asses home.... Fuch em..

[azasadny]

Send them back from whence they came....

[968rz]

I don't know about furin-ers that come here but I do know my son is willing to take (and not b!tch) about any job he can get during college, better than not having spending cash.

[Rick Lee]

I did a similar program in college and it was just about the same as these students are complaining about, but I turned it into a great thing. Back then Bayer was called Mobay in the US and they sent me to work at their HQ in Germany. They lined up an apt. for me too. The apt. was grossly overpriced and far from the nearest train station, such that, even after a long bike ride at 4am, the very first train of the day still got me to work 20 min. late. And I was put in a factory filling up 20 kg. sacks of mothball crystals, which were then made into those urinal deodorants. There were no Germans on my crew except for the foreman. How cultural was that? I worked with Turks, Serbs, Kosovar Albanians and Egyptians. Broken German was the common language. I got to do some really awful, dangerous repair work in the factory too. I ditched that apt. (I suspect my landlord was former SS) after one month for living within walking distance of the train station. I bought a beater motorcycle to ride to work on the days I had early shift. And I saved a ton of money. Ok, it did pay pretty well, but then I volunteered for the bad stuff and wasn't working in a library or office setting. But even if it hadn't paid well, I'd have known that going in and the thought of protesting would have been laughable. I never heard from Mobay in Pittsburgh again and extended my work program and visa on my own for a few more mos. until the semester started. And they took me back over spring break too. I saved up enough money to cover most of my next year's living expenses back in the states. It was AWESOME. One of the best things I ever did.

[Eric 951]

Let's see, doing unskilled labor for minumum wage as a summer job--involving manual work--welcome to every summer job I worked throughout high school and early college.

Quit yer whinin' and go back home if you don't like it

[krystar]

my gf's on a J1. she's busting ass doing waitress work. no sympathy for these ppl. if u don't like the job....GO WAIT TABLES!

[silverwhaletail]

anybody here know what the pay per hour (The US Dollar Equivalent) would be for the Ukraine Bcth if she had elected to stay home and work for the summer??

I have no idea how much the Ukraine "minumum wage" is, but would love to know if one of you guys is hip to that kind of info.

Maybe that Traitor living in Frogland will chime in and tell my how superior the former ussr states are to the USA...

[GH85Carrera]

[BlueSkyJaunte]

I had a long chat with a lovely Moldovan girl who is working in Duck, NC this summer. She was *very* appreciative of the opportunity to work here in the States, despite having to walk to work in 90+ degree weather with 100% humidity from the crowded dormitory (full of other Moldovans) she was living in.

She mentioned that some of her dorm-mates were complaining about various aspects of their stay in the US--but she took a much more philosophical view of the situation. I believe her exact words were, "Back home, is s**thole."

[kach22i]

I see everyone has a strong opinion, I guessing then you have not read some of the same articles I have. If you have, then shame on you.

Foreign students protest slave labor at Hershey's
Foreign students protest slave labor at Hershey's — RT

The international students working at the Hershey plant are saying they’re barely breaking even on the excursion to the US after everything is taken into account, however, despite their salaries.

Students had to fork over upwards of $6,000 to the California-based Council for Educational Travel USA, or CETUSA, for participation in the program.

Though workers are making $8.35 an hour, housing and program fees are deducted directly from their paychecks. While they came to America seeking a land of opportunity, many are finding themselves in the hole now that their duration with the program has neared expiration. Once all fees are taken into account, students say they are left with less money than they had at the beginning, even after weeks of grueling labor.

And even worse..................................I ask you to picture your loved ones in a similar situation.

Foreign students made sex slaves
March 3, 2009
Foreign students made sex slaves - Opinion - Daily 49er - California State University Long Beach

We've all heard about sex trafficking, but did you know that America is among the three highest countries for imported sex slaves and that they're being brought in legally through the National Foreign Exchange Student Program?

If you Google that last topic, articles going back ten years can be found, not a new or sudden problem.

[Rick Lee]

The sex slave thing has nothing to do with the Hershey protest. Try to stay on topic here. Unless those kids were brought here against their will and/or contracts are not being upheld, it sounds to me like they're as bad at math as our own students are. If you know what you'll be paid and what your rent will run, what are the other variables? Beer money? Shakedowns from the employment agency? I've had some pretty miserable, manual labor jobs, most far worse than I was led to believe when I took the job. Never had one that refused to pay me though. How did I survive?

[krystar]

they're making minimum wage. and you're spending money that's what students do. u don't become an exchange student to make profit. u don't go to college and end up with more money graduating than u paid in tuition.

are the program fees exorbitant? probably....and who's fault is it that they're being taken advantage of? hard lesson in life. nobody kidnapped you and forced u to work at hersey's.




this is totally different than sex/indentured servitude scams that asian illegal immigrants are on.

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

The sex slave thing has nothing to do with the Hershey protest. Try to stay on topic here.

It is the same topic because it is the same program.

J-1 Student Visa Abuse: Foreign Students Forced To Work In Strip Clubs, Eat On Floor
J-1 Student Visa Abuse: Foreign Students Forced To Work In Strip Clubs, Eat On Floor

They are among more than 100,000 college students who come to the U.S. each year on popular J-1 visas, which supply resorts with cheap seasonal labor as part of a program aimed at fostering cultural understanding.

Government auditors have warned about problems in the program for 20 years, but the State Department, which is in charge of it, only now says it is working on new rules. Officials won't say what those rules are or discuss on the record the problems that have plagued J-1 visas.

Student visa abuse a growing danger in America
HOLBROOK MOHR, MITCH WEISS and MIKE BAKER
December 6, 2010
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/node/36390

J-1 students have been recruited to smuggle cash that authorities said was stolen from U.S. bank accounts, court records show, and their identities have been used in a million-dollar income tax scam.

“It’s difficult to prosecute these cases because the workers usually leave the country within a few months. That’s why the J-1 is the ideal visa to exploit,” Coonan said.

In the worst cases, students get funneled into sexual slavery.

The J-1 Summer Work and Travel program, which allows college students to visit for up to four months, is one of the State Department’s most popular visas. Participation has boomed from about 20,000 in 1996 to a peak of more than 150,000 in 2008.

[Rick Lee]

Out of arguments there, Kach?

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

Out of arguments there, Kach?

I proved you wrong and that's all I get?

What a jip.

[Racerbvd]

Originally Posted by silverwhaletail

anybody here know what the pay per hour (The US Dollar Equivalent) would be for the Ukraine Bcth if she had elected to stay home and work for the summer??

I have no idea how much the Ukraine "minumum wage" is, but would love to know if one of you guys is hip to that kind of info.

Maybe that Traitor living in Frogland will chime in and tell my how superior the former ussr states are to the USA...

Found it, a bit dated so could be less now as the dollar value..

Ukraine's yearly minimum wage is $2.00 in International Currency. International Currency is a measure of currency based on the value of the United States dollar in 2009.
Ukraine Minimum Wage - International Minimum Wage Rates 2011

I still say put the punks on a boat & send em home..